We’re finally going to find out. The Lakers team to which Jackson is returning is nothing like the one he left. That team had Shaq and Kobe. This team has just Kobe. It has little presence in the middle and too much presence on the perimeter. It’s questionable at point guard. And it’s seriously over the salary cap.

This isn’t a team ready to win, it’s a team that needs to be rebuilt, a team that needs to be taught, a team that needs time and great effort to begin to get close to where it once was.

Everyone who wanted to see what Jackson could do without the horses is about to find out.

You have to give him credit for trying, because the downside of this endeavor is off the scale. Just by re-enlisting with L.A., Jackson has already opened himself up to the slings and arrows of outraged commentators. Before he calls his first practice, he’ll have been called every kind of fool there is.

He doesn’t even know if he can make peace with Kobe, whom Jackson called uncoachable in his own book. When he left last year, it was widely assumed that Kobe’s desire to be rid of the guru of the triangle offense hastened the exit.

Guys at Jackson’s age – he’ll be 60 in September – generally decide they don’t need the aggravation of dealing with a spoiled superstar and trying to rebuild something that is beyond broken. Monumental challenges are for younger guys. Why bother when there are situations all over that have a shorter distance to cover and more amenable help?

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You can say that just proves how foolhardy he is. Or you can say he’s showing more guts than anyone gave him credit for having. He’s walking into a situation in which the chances of failing are probably better than the chances of succeeding. And he’s doing it by choice with his eyes wide open.

The upside is awfully good. He’s already a hero in L.A., and if he can restore the Lakers to glory, there won’t be a bigger celebrity in the town that invented superstars.

If you’re the Lakers, it’s a no-brainer. Jackson is selling tickets already. And his mere presence on the bench helps the rebuilding process, because he can attract free agents from a league full of players who have grown up dreaming of playing for him. He can’t help but make the team better.

It may indeed turn out to be foolhardy, but you can’t say it’s not brave. Give Jackson credit for that.