by Andrew on Wed Apr 26, 2017 9:24 am
At least Phil can say he built a championship team. Unfortunately, it was in Cleveland.
It's understandable if Phil doesn't want to be a head coach anymore. He's 71, he's got some health issues, and he's gone through the rigours of an NBA season many times over, where he's proven himself again and again. That's fine, totally fair. But if that's a role he can no longer dedicate himself to, then he's got to let it go in order to do his best in his new front office role. He has to work with his coach, not undermine and try to control them.
I'm sure some might try to spin his "mentoring" role as something positive, given the fact he has eleven championships and a lot of wins under his belt. It wouldn't be so bad if Hornacek were going to him for advice, actually seeking his counsel and working with him to devise strategies, of his own volition. When the "advice" is being thrust on you, when your practices are being halted and you're being made to look like an ineffectual fool...well, that's a different story altogether.
Again, it's strange to see, because Phil suffered through dysfunction and disrespect with the Bulls' brass, and butted heads with Jim Buss during his tenure with the Lakers. You'd therefore think he could relate to how it feels to be the coach in that position, and how unwelcome that intrusion and interference is. Then again, he won despite the dysfunction, so maybe he thinks it somehow helps, conveniently ignoring the fact that having Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Shaquille O'Neal, and Kobe Bryant was a good way of nullifying any destructive effects of inner chaos. Or maybe he just thinks he always knows best. Perhaps a bit of both. In any case, even if he isn't making all the terrible moves that some of his predecessors did, he's messing things up in his own way.