There is no sense in going all over this again and again and again. The bottom line is as you said...they all had a part. The facts are that Jim Buss went to Jerry and wanted PJ out of the coaching position. PJ and Jerry met and they agreed that PJ would not return as coach. He DID NOT walk away.There were many articles that used the word fired. Many broadcasts as well. Do you honeslty think they wouldn't have worded it as his stepping down to his stature, reputation, and the fact he was dating the daughter? Come on. I clearly remember the broadcast where PJ commented that exit talks took him by surprise.
Soooo, to please you... well just say.... PJ was not retained as the coach. Feel better?
The facts are, the Lakers wanted to go a different direction that didn't involve the triange. Let's not forget, that Shaq DEMANDED a trade long before the Kobe signing and the PJ "non retention"
. Jerry made a business decision based on the money, ages of Shaq, and years involved. There was no guarantee Kobe was still not going to leave and in fact he came very close to doing just that even after the Shaq trade. Jim Buss wanted to get back to a more up tempo game since they had already made the Shaq decision, and in doing so, wanted a different coach.
Again, I make a comment about Shaq being whiney when he doesnt get his way. Somthing he has PROVEN with 3 teams. And now its all about Shaq/Kobe/PJ etc. Enough already...
All in all... the Lakers made the right decision!
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How did you deal with that when Phil Jackson left the team? I know it is tough because you have your boyfriend on one side and your dad and organization on the other.[/FONT]
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JB: Yeah, you know sometimes when I'm talking with my dad, I said 'when Phil got fired', he says 'he didn't get fired, his contract wasn't renewed.' I go, 'okay, whatever.' That was probably that toughest time of my life. It[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]really was because I saw that Phil wasn't really ready to go and I think he felt he had more to do with this organization. But now when you look back at it, it really worked out for the best. Phil needed some time off. I[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]didn't know what was going to happen to our relationship. As it turns out our relationship became stronger because we did have that distance between us and now he's back (laughing).[/FONT]