National Basketball Association

Lakers' Jackson 'not a fan' of Heat style

Published Mar. 10, 2011 11:28 p.m. ET

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Phil Jackson has another thought on the Miami Heat: He doesn't like how they play.

Speaking Thursday before his Los Angeles Lakers visited Miami, Jackson likened the way the Heat play to an Xbox video game and said they rely too much on 1-on-1 basketball.

''I'm not a big fan of the style that Miami plays,'' Jackson said. ''I like to see everybody involved in the game.''

It was just the latest public statement from Jackson on the Heat, a list that includes how their roster was assembled last summer and Heat coach Erik Spoelstra saying Miami had some players ''crying'' in the locker room after a loss to Chicago earlier this week.

Jackson also questioned Spoelstra's job security earlier this year, then quickly apologized for that remark.

''He's doing a good job,'' said Jackson, a winner of 11 NBA titles as a coach, including the last two with the Lakers. ''He's going to be fine.''

Asked Thursday if he took interest in how Miami was coming together as a team, especially with all the interest in how LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh came together last summer, Jackson paused for a brief moment.

He said he enjoys watching teams like San Antonio and Boston and the styles those teams play.

The Heat? Not so much, especially since there are long stretches where most of Miami's offense revolves around two or three players at the most, instead of the get-everyone-involved-when-possible approach Jackson prefers.

''I think that's really important to basketball,'' Jackson said. ''That's what I'm trying to preach as a basketball coach, even though we have a guy that dominates the ball in Kobe (Bryant). Their basketball is very much standing with Xbox games or whatever those games are. Basketball's not a 1-on-1 game. It's a team game.''

He's hardly the first to suggest that the Heat rely too heavily on James and Wade, who came into Thursday ranked second and fourth respectively in the league scoring stats.

After that, the Heat offensive consistency has been inconsistency, something Bosh and other Miami players have acknowledged as a problem.

''I don't really care what people say about us, personally,'' Wade said earlier Thursday, a few hours before Jackson spoke.

Miami came into Thursday on a five-game slide. The Lakers started the day as the NBA's hottest team, winners of eight straight.

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