After becoming a championship coach, Phil Jackson received plenty of acclaim.
Especially after creating history with a 72-10 record and then winning the championship.
Just like Pat Riley, he was inherently skilled at packaging and marketing himself.
However, they took different paths; Riley was the slick elite of the CBD, while Jackson resembled a mystical mentor hidden in a gypsy caravan.
Jackson opened up new territory in the domain of NBA coaching, blending team management, on-court command, mental counseling, and mystical divination—all things previously considered unrelated to head coaching.
All of this was for control, for victory, for the championship.
He elevated the role of head coach to an unprecedentedly important and complex status, although Jackson didn’t initially anticipate he would reach this point.
Initially, he simply wanted to have a meal ticket in the League, to break into the head coach circle, and thereafter not worry about jobs or salaries.
The NBA is a small circle; coaches form an even smaller subset than players. Coaches introduce and recommend each other for jobs, study together during vacations, holiday, and share insights about various teams. Without personal connections or guidance, it is hard for outsiders to get in, as there are very few positions available.
However, Jackson was not part of this small circle; he did not have close relationships with most other coaches in the League.
Traditional academic coaches didn’t think highly of him, perceiving him like a hippie wearing bell-bottoms and silk shirts in a law school auditorium.
Player-type coaches with strong personalities were also indifferent to him, as they were generally aloof from each other, like the newly appointed head coach Larry Bird who didn’t care to mingle with other coaches and didn’t expect future friendships to lead to job recommendations.
Jackson took an unprecedented path, one truly his own.
He genuinely integrated the Chicago Bulls, inspired Jordan, tapped into Pippen and Grant, and creatively introduced the Triangle Offense, leading the tactical wave in professional basketball.
But Gan and the Portland Trail Blazers delayed his success, from Jackson’s perspective, Portland and Gan were the ultimate bosses of this game.
On many nights, Jackson would wonder, if in 1991 the Chicago Bulls had won the championship, what would have been different?
In that scenario, the ultimate bosses would definitely have become the Chicago Bulls and Jordan, right?
Just like Jordan thought, Jackson believed the championship wasn’t complete without defeating the real ultimate boss.
Like the New York Knicks’ championships in 1970 and 1973, those trophies were a source of pride for all of New York.
But ultimately, they never managed to defeat Bill Russell’s Celtics head on in the playoffs, which was a kind of regret.
When Gan Guoyang retired in 1994, unlike Jackson, Jordan didn’t feel regret because he knew Ah Gan would definitely return.
Jackson awaited Ah Gan’s return; he felt pleased about it, thinking the chance to settle accounts with Ah Gan and reverse their record had arrived.
From Jackson’s perspective, it was never Gan vs. Joe, but Gan vs. Phil Jordan.
Without Phil Jackson, Jordan’s winning rate against Gan Guoyang was miserably low, and their achievements weren’t on the same level.
Once Jackson took over the Bulls, Jordan truly had the chance to challenge Ah Gan, and Jordan got closer and closer to Gan.
It was Phil Jackson’s brain plus Michael Jordan’s physique and skills, together, possessed the ability to defeat the ultimate boss.
"If Michael had half of Ah Gan’s cunning, we wouldn’t have lost in 1992."
Jackson always thought this deep in his heart; this notion tormented him for many years.
In his view, Jordan was too straightforward, often losing out in confrontations with Ah Gan.
Jordan was also extremely stubborn, adhering to his style and values, seldom wavering.
Sometimes he would compromise, but it was more like a kind of tolerance, rather than genuine change.
Jackson would often feel headache because of this, but on reflection thought, perhaps this is the reason why Jordan is Jordan.
He couldn’t become Ah Gan, nor did he want to be Ah Gan; he wished to surpass and defeat opponents in his own way.
Among these, the idea of "in his own way" was particularly important; otherwise, he should learn from Olajuwon and join the Heat to fulfill his wishes more easily.
Of course, Jordan also privately told Jackson, "If I lose to Ah Gan again, I really need to consider going to Los Angeles or Miami."
Jackson thought to himself, if it truly came to that, everyone would understand you, that Ah Gan guy is so damn abnormal.
In today’s game, Jackson found one good thing, the current Trail Blazers are quite weak.
In all aspects, they do not meet the championship caliber standards and are far from the level of the team during their four-peat.
The bad discovery was that Gan was hardly different from before, showing no signs of decline.
In fact, the guy seemed even more cunning; every action he took, every word he said, Jackson had to suspect that Ah Gan was strategizing something.
In the third quarter, Jackson instructed his players to eliminate distractions and gain an advantage against the Trail Blazers with trustworthy defense rather than Triangle Offense.
In the first possession, Jordan received the ball at the elbow, backed down Riddle, turned, and made a fadeaway jump shot.
Gan Guoyang immediately responded with a hook shot under the basket—this season, Gan Guoyang’s hook shots had reached a new high.