The Noble Elk

We flew into LA late last night for our monthly pilgrimage to Santa Monica and driving around near midnight in the muggy smear of lights all I could think about was: Phil is no longer the King of Los Angeles. 

Then this morning I read a very fine homage to the Zen Master by Mr. Simmons which had the net effect of inspiring me to actually go and read some of Phil's books (I think I saw Seth B reading one over Easter..). The article had two things in it that I found especially excellent:

1) BS gave the best explanation for Phil's smile at the end of that Dallas sweep in Game 4 last Sunday. Some guys are criers, some guys -- especially Van Gundy guys -- let their grief show through like a bald spot, and some guys get stony. Phil just smiled after that undressing by Dallas. Turns out he was prepared -- preparation is his trademark. I should have picked up on the "tell" myself -- the kids all flown in the see this game in Dallas. Of course Phil knew this was it. He knew his team had quit and his career was done. He could smile because he knew, he was right. 

2) The other thing that popped in the BS article was just the amount of unsaid loathing Phil has for Kobe. Am I just reading into this? I don't know. Yeah, there was the book a few years ago, but then there was detente. I will do a post sometime about Kobe, a player who has tortured me for years as a possible inspiration for hard work but who is so completely un-coachable -- or un-reachable! -- and self-limited. And I think that's where Phil's emotion for Kobe comes from -- because Phil is all about "reaching" people and Kobe was one mountain that he was never able to climb.

Three things I've read recently have helped me understand The Kobe Problem better -- an article by Saint Henry of Portland that debunks Kobe's claim to be a great clutch player (hint: not even close!), then a prose poem by Sherman Alexie about what happens now that Kobe is no longer an elite player, and finally, this Simmons piece about Phil and how much Phil misses Michael. Hmmm..

If we're lucky, Phil has another couple books in him. And if we're really lucky, someone will talk him into coaching the Knicks. Yeah, I'm dreaming.