By MATT "MONEY" SMITH
FOXSportsWest.com | PRIME TICKET
March 9, 2011
I've always said you're worth whatever someone is willing to pay you.
Understand it has nothing to do with a consensus of what you ought to be making as measured by the salaries of your peers. Put simply, you are worth what one single company deems or one single person with control of the purse strings considers he or she ought to pay you for your services. Not a cent more and not a cent less. If that were the case, then it would be your salary instead of the one you are currently earning.
In these dire economic times it was hard for people to get their heads around the idea that Phil Jackson decided to voice his displeasure about taking a pay cut from a $12 million per year salary after the Lakers won another championship last season, Jackson's fifth with the organization. I supported his position 100 percent.
Because we as men have an issue with the amount of money other men make, a lot of people had a problem with Jackson. Some suggested he was ungrateful. That anyone could coach a team with the level of talent the Lakers possessed to NBA Championships. Others insisted it was silly he earned significantly (nearly 30 percent) more than the next highest paid coach in the league. But understand the same concept I stated above. Jackson's salary is what Jerry Buss determined it ought to be, and that number indicates what he's worth to this organization this particular season. Asking why Buss pays a guy so much to coach a team that costs $93 million in player salaries is one of the dumber questions out there. Would you want a "Private Pilot" navigating a DC-10 into the Hong Kong airport or someone that's completed the "Airport Transport" level of testing? If you wonder whether or not Jackson is earning his keep, look at the mutiny that's taking place in Miami.
LeBron James is running roughshod over Erik Spoelstra, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and, until he comes down from the front office, Pat Riley. There isn't but one coach that could manage to keep the leagues biggest ego in check, and the reason he's in LA has something to do with that $12 million number. I can guarantee the thought has crossed James' mind, and especially as of late with the Lakers streaking one way and the Heat in the exact opposite direction. James is likely wondering if Jackson really meant it when he said "I'd love to coach LeBron," and whether or not it could be a reality next season (not a chance).
When things started to get sideways on the Lakers, Jackson was there to keep the team in check. Kobe Bryant operating too far outside the offense led to him saying "(Ron Artest is) probably a little better at (the triangle offense) than Kobe is, because Kobe ignores the offense." Could you see Spoelstra putting that out there when asked about LeBron's M.O. in the final minute of all these games the team has lost? Suggesting to the media that James is ignoring the teams best closer Wade in nearly every situation?
When the Heat shelled the Lakers on Christmas Day , did Jackson intimate his team was crying in the locker room, that it wasn't a matter of want? Not a chance. Instead he told everyone in the assembled media that we were crazy for putting a lick of stock in games that took place in the calendar year 2010. When Pau Gasol was crowing about not enough touches on the offensive end, Jackson backed up his most consistent player's suggestions. He plays tough love with Andrew Bynum, with Artest and gives Bryant the respect a five-time NBA champion deserves, but at the same time isn't afraid to remind him who the boss is whether he agrees or not.
Comparing Jackson to Spoelstra is comparing a char-grilled fillet to some pan-fried ground chuck. Dealing with Shaquille O'Neal and Bryant wasn't a challenge to Phil because he'd already dealt with the ultimate ego in Michael Jordan. As much of a fuss as Bryant puts up at times, Jackson has been there before. You look at what Spoelstra has to deal with and the only thing that's apparent is he's way above his pay grade. People constantly bemoan the fact that Jackson isn't one of the better "X's and O's" coaches in the league. Do you think the Heat is in need of "X's and O's" right now or someone that can establish a working environment?
Unfortunately for Spoelstra, he has to earn the respect of James, which isn't so much a Herculean task . . . but instead an impossible one. In the span of just eight months, James went from being one of the most likeable players in the league to one of the most loathed. Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnorowski wrote a while back that James had no interest in playing for Coach "Spo." And judging by the moves James' band of idiots that run his marketing company were behind, it's not hard to imagine they were putting pressure on Riley to make a return to the bench. Something which Riley has no interest in doing, but should the team get crushed at home by the Lakers, may have no choice. At the very least, Riley is going to have to get in that locker room and start cracking some skulls to let these guys know they don't deserve the sweat off his brow with the way they've performed this season.
The old cliche is you get what you pay for. In hiring Spoelstra a couple years back when he was the youngest head coach in the league, the Heat thought they had an up and comer, and they might. But today they're paying for him not having arrived already. Remarks about his team crying in the locker room Sunday were followed by a convoluted backtracking media session Monday that somehow indicted the media for blowing his comments out of proportion. The chain of events showed not only his inexperience but his inability to play with the big boys.
It takes someone of Jackson's stature to tell Lamar Odom if his ridiculous reality show causes the slightest bit of tumult in his locker room it'll be his head on a stick. When Bryant starts to get loose in the offense, it's Jackson who's waiting at the sidelines with his hands on hips and lips flapping to convey the disgust he's got in the style of basketball being employed. Artest isn't happy, Artest gets called a nasty name by Jackson and is reminded he's barely competent enough to dribble a ball in the context of the offense, let alone have an impact in the game. Bynum wants to wait until December to come back, Bynum will not find many positive vibes emanating from his bosses office whenever he walks by.
Were it anyone but Riley that ran the Heat, I would bet my life were the Lakers to win their third straight championship, Jackson would celebrate by taking his talents to South Beach and trying to coach the Miami Heat to a 3-peat of their own under his tutelage. At that point, I'm guessing fans wouldn't have the slightest problem with whatever salary he demanded; likely he'd be worth double what the Lakers were paying him in the hopes he would stick around.
