Of course, any such discussion will inevitably mention the names Michael Jordan and Shaquille O'Neal. While coaching teams to nine NBA championships, Jackson had the luxury of having the league MVP on his side five times. And, should he make it ten in June, odds are that Kobe Bryant will bring that number to six.

So what? Jackson-coached teams also defeated three teams with league MVPs (Charles Barkley, Karl Malone and Allen Iverson) in the Finals. Besides, a man who played on one of the great better-than-the-sum-of-its-parts teams of all time (the '73 Knicks) and whose only Finals loss in ten visits was to a Detroit Pistons team four years ago who closely resembled that model understands that you don't LeBron yourself to an NBA championship.

In Michael Jordan and now Kobe Bryant, it was not simply that Jackson was and is coaching the NBA's most gifted player. It is that he is coaching the league's most competitive. What Jackson has been able to do with both, though certainly it took longer with Kobe, is harness their competitiveness so that it not only conforms to the team model, but it rubs off on the other players.

MJ was an easy sell for the rookie coach. Jordan was in his seventh season and was 28 years old when the Bulls at last won an NBA title. He had four scoring championships but no rings. Here, Jackson found, was an eager student.

Bryant, every bit the virtuoso that Jordan was, lacked his leadership skills. Kobe won three NBA rings before his 24th birthday while Shaquille O'Neal played den mother. After the Lakers failed to win a ring for the second straight season in 2004, Bryant told management that he was done being a "sidekick." Jackson, a selfless teammate during his 12 seasons as a player, was fed up with his insolence.

"I won't coach this team next year if (Kobe) is still here," Jackson told GM Mitch Kupchak. "He won't listen to anyone. I've had it with this kid."

Jackson stood by that statement, but a year later the owner's daughter's boyfriend was back on the bench. It is incredible how far Kobe and Phil have come in their second act together. Two years ago, in a first-round playoff series versus Phoenix, Kobe Bryant pulled a me-first disappearing act in the second half of Game 7.

Surely you recall? Bryant came into Game 7 averaging 35.5 points per game versus Phoenix. In Game 6 he scored a career playoff-high 50, but the Lakers lost in overtime. It was suggested that perhaps Kobe needed to get his team more involved.

In Game 7 Bryant scored 23 first-half points, more than half the Lakers' output. The Lakers trailed by 15 at the break, though. What happened in that halftime locker room? Did Jackson suggest to Kobe that he get his teammates more involved?

Whatever was said, Bryant took just three shots in the second half of that Game 7. You will not observe a more docile half in Bryant's career, as he was content, while running the point, to rarely do more than make a pass to the wing and watch. Rarely did he venture below the foul circle. This was not an accident; this was a message. This was Zach de la Rocha telling Rage Against the Machine, "Good luck with that new lead singer."

Curiously, that band released an album entitled "The Battle of Los Angeles" and coincidentally, Rage has since reunited. If the Lakers of Phil and Kobe had a house band, they should be it. Because, two years later and six seasons removed from their last NBA title, Jackson and Bryant recognize their need for symbiosis.

Watching Kobe erupt for 49 against the Denver Nuggets in Game 2 of the Lakers opening round series was akin to watching him accept -- no, embrace--the notion of being the heir to MJ. Jordan would never have upstaged his coach and team as Bryant did in that Game 7 in Phoenix in 2006; he was always a warrior. Kobe, always the premier assassin of the post-MJ era, finally seemed to be enjoying himself in that fourth quarter in which he scored 19 points.

As Kobe pantomimed putting his guns in the holster, or looked over toward announcer Doug Collins (Jackson's predecessor with the Bulls) after yet another ridiculous bucket, the chants of "MVP" echoed through Staples Center. On the bench Jackson sat placidly, his suitcase limbs folding upon themselves.

There will be more highs this spring. More playoff wins, more happy bus rides to the airport. Come June, should the NBA Finals find Boston and Los Angeles renewing the NBA's greatest rivalry, it would bear remembering that Jackson is 16-8 all-time on the road in the NBA Finals. And that Games 6 and 7 would be played in Boston.

What a happy bus ride to Logan Airport that would be.

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