Is Jackson worth another 2 years to the Lakers?

In something that wasn't too much of a surprise to fans of the NBA, the Lakers retained Phil Jackson as their head coach and are giving him 24 million to stay another 2 years. My question is, why? Sure, the guy has a great resume. He's won championships with some of the greatest players to ever step foot on a court. But--as the great philosopher Janet Jackson once proclaimed--what have you done for me lately?

With the dramatics surrounding Kobe Bryant, Jackson has done very little to revive one of the NBA' s most storied franchises. His teams have fallen consistently short every year in the playoffs, and while one of the things he built his best teams around was the little guys, the role players that were able to step it up in the clutch, all he's relied upon the past decade is superstars. His Zen-like attitude really has never quite meshed with the Lakers franchise overall, and the triangle offense he runs with them has had its time.

While it's a good thing to hold onto a coach that obviously has the potential, sometimes it's worse to hold onto novelty. The Lakers are not doing themselves any favors by keeping Jackson--if they are going to do so, they better not rely upon his coaching to "motivate", they need to spend more money on some better players. Otherwise, it will continue to be "Live from Hollywood, the Kobeeeeeeeeeeeee shooooooooooooooooowwww...."

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Is Jackson worth another 2 years to the Lakers?

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