It's All about the Journey

Call me a masochist for reading a book about the Lakers, but that is exactly what I am doing. Phil Jackson’s “The Last Season” chronicles the Lake Show’s 2003-2004 season.

It began when Karl Malone and Gary Payton both agreed to play for the veteran’s minimum and ended in complete disarray with Kobe’s ongoing sexual assault prosecution, the Kobe, Shaq, and Phil soap opera about whether Mitch would bring any of them back for the following season, Karl Malone’s injury, Gary Payton’s whining, and finally the Franchise Meltdown in the Finals.

And you think Doc has his hands full?

The one theme that Phil reiterates is the idea of a journey, an idea, coincidentally enough, that has been repeated by Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen throughout the preseason and the first 10 games of the Boston Celtics 2007-2008 regular season.

My first response to this idea was pretty straightforward.

Crap!

The only thing I’m after is Banner #17. Anything short of that and the so-call "journey" will do little to provide me solace.

But after further thought, I may be have to reconsider.

As Dr. Zen points out, the moment you raise your arms in championship triumph lasts exactly that long—one moment. Under what theory of maximizing personal happiness does any goal worth pursuing result in your happiness being maximized for a single moment?

Sure you can call all of your Laker friends and chant 17-14, 17-14 into the phone. But it won’t be long before they hang up. Ok, then maybe you follow that up with a bunch of 17-14 emails.

Then what?

No, I think the idea is to savor each game, relish in the fact that your team is now the “it” team in the NBA, appearing on national television about once every two weeks, leading the league in merchandise sold, and, most importantly, playing a pretty impressive brand of basketball that harkens back to the championship squads of the 60s, 70s, and 80s.

Each time Garnett makes a move that propels you out of your seat, enjoy the journey. Every time Pierce drives to the lane and dishes to a wide open teammate instead of plowing forward through double and triple teams, enjoy the journey. Every time the team goes on a win streak, enjoy the journey.

Now with every loss, let us all hope that it is a learning and growing experience on the road to the next championship.

With the 2-point loss to Orlando on Sunday, Chapter One is now complete for the 2007-2008 Journey. I am looking forward to the remainder of our trip over the next 7 months.