Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson have endured.
Bonded by basketball, the superstar and his contemplative coach are on the cusp of another NBA title.
For Bryant, No. 4.
For Jackson, No. 10 - and one for the record books.
Tonight, the Los Angeles Lakers, seeking their 15th championship and first since 2002, will try to put away the Orlando Magic in Game 5 of a finals in which every game but the opener has been decided by one or two key plays in the closing seconds.
The Lakers understand what’s at hand. They don’t want to give life to an Orlando team that has come back before. One year after losing in the finals to Boston, Bryant and his teammates want to finish the job.
This is the chance Bryant has longed for, the opportunity to silence those who feel he needs a fourth title to validate his legacy. He and the Lakers have not won it all since Shaquille O’Neal left in 2004, shortly after The Big Diesel chugged off in a trade to Miami.
Bryant swears the he-can’t-win-one-without-Shaq argument hasn’t bothered him. That’s hard to believe. The three straight championships from 2000-02 came so easy. It seemed as though it would take no time for him to win Nos. 4, 5, 6.
But it’s been a long time since the last one. Bryant’s seven-year itch.
While Bryant embraces the possibility of completing his quest, Jackson is leery of looking too far ahead. That’s asking for trouble.
The cautious coach.
If the Lakers win, the 64-year-old Jackson will surpass Red Auerbach for the most titles in history. It’s a distinction that almost seems to bother Jackson, who won six in Chicago with Jordan and Scottie Pippen running his triangle offense before he took over the Lakers in 1999.
Even considering the achievement makes him squirm in his flip-flops. Two handfuls of rings is not something the son of a preacher from North Dakota who became a valued role player on two championship teams in New York in the 1970s could have imagined.
“They say it takes four games to win,” Jackson said, “and I just don’t want to even talk about anything like that until there’s a done deed.”
While they may not outwardly show it, Bryant and his coach are tighter than ever.
“The second time around it became more of a personal relationship, us having been around each other and then having this new group of guys that we both had to lead,” Bryant said. “The relationship has carried over to off the court, whereas in the past it’s always just been more of an Xs and Os kind of relationship.”
As for the possibility of playing for anyone but Jackson, who has not outlined his plans beyond this season, Bryant can’t consider it.
“I’ve been spoiled my whole career playing for Phil,” he said. “It’s hard to imagine playing for anybody else. I grew up with him.”
