Part 2
As negotiations began, Bill Sharman held the upper hand over Laker owner Jack Kent Cooke. Not only were the Lakers perceived as a team in decline, Sharman was being advised by friends and family not to take the job. NBA executives scoffed at Sharman's plans to turn the aging and injured Laker team into a fast-breaking outfit. Sharman still wanted the job. But he had one condition.
Sharman: I need an assistant coach.
Cooke: Bill, Red never had an assistant in Boston. You didn't have an assistant when you won the ABL championship with the Cleveland Pipers. You didn't have an assistant when you won the ABA championship with the Utah Stars. You didn't even have an assistant when you took the vaunted Philadelphia 76ers to six games in the '67 Finals as coach of the San Francisco Warriors. You don't need an assistant.
Sharman: Do you want to win?
Cooke: Yes.
Sharman: Do you want me?
Cooke: Yes, but Bill, I own the team. I have 55 people under me. I don't have an assistant.
Sharman: When was the last time the Lakers won a championship?
Cooke: Who are you going to bring in?
Sharman: KC Jones.
Cooke: Another Celtic? They're gonna fry me in the press.
Sharman: (observing the silence)
Cooke: You two better win. Consider yourself on a short leash.
And so it was. Jack Kent Cooke hired former Celtic great Bill Sharman to coach the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers, and permitted him to hire another Boston Celtic, KC Jones, as an assistant.
It didn't take long until the Lakers were playing Celtics' style basketball.
No comments:
Post a Comment