Bird Left O’Neal Memories to Savor

Shaquille O’Neal paid his own tribute to Pacer Coach Larry Bird, who is quitting as coach when the Indiana season ends but clearly impressed the young O’Neal during Bird’s all-star 1980s heyday.

“Larry Bird was one of my favorite players,” O’Neal said. “When I was growing up, I had this friend--a white guy. Of course, he was Bird, and I was Magic.

“We used to go back and forth, back and forth. But watching my friend play, I learned to appreciate what Bird did for the game.

“I knew Bird was good when that one time where he had the ball, he was falling out of bounds, he didn’t have anywhere to pass it to, he shot it over the backboard. I knew that he’s the best.”

Phil Jackson said that he appreciates the way Bird handled himself in his three years as Indiana coach, which has included two matchups with Jackson-coached teams (in 1998 in an Eastern Conference showdown with the Chicago Bulls and this one).

“I’ve always liked the player-first demeanor that Coach Bird has taken into this game, understanding that players are what make coaches,” Jackson said. “Players have to be promoted.

“Coaching is an important job that goes along with it, but it’s the players that you’ve got to get playing for you and together that is the priority.”

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So, after Kobe Bryant’s overtime masterpiece performance in Game 4, could Jackson possibly compare him to Michael Jordan, at last?

“I saw Michael play 115 playoff games, maybe,” Jackson said. “He probably had 90 games at the level [Bryant] had in this one.

“And you know, not to take anything away from Kobe, but we got used to the way Michael played and the level he played at. To see someone reach close to the way he could play is enough of a hint to want to make us recapture that lure that Michael held out for us.

“But Kobe’s young. He’s probably a better player at 21 than Michael was at 21. He has a wonderful future, and we hope he can fill those mighty big shoes.

“The chances are, he’s not. . . . [But] he’s got a lot of years to develop into that role.”

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Jackson acknowledged that this team exceeded his expectations at the start of the season.

“I’ve been waiting for the, you know, ‘ah-ha!’ light to go on in this team for some time and it comes and goes,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons I felt that this year was premature to kind of expect anything of that nature yet.

“There’s a certain sense or a certain nature about a team when they, you know, identify their opponent, they identify their defense, that they’re giving them the understanding offensively what they have to do, that they get that instinct of how to do it.”

So what was his goal?

“I tried not to have one,” he said. “I did mention the fact that I thought if we won 60 games, it would be a goal worthy of this team.

“I wanted them to advance to the finals of their conference--that was my private [goal], to move up another notch.

“And whether or not they could get in [the NBA finals], I didn’t know. But they had a miracle game--seventh game against Portland--and played very well.”

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When asked if this was one of his best coaching jobs, Jackson declined to answer, but he offered his own emotions about the enjoyment he has experienced in his first season with the Lakers.

“I’ll let other people comment on that, but it’s been enjoyable,” he said. “That, I know for sure. I’ve enjoyed working with these young men.”

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Although a final decision is far off, the Lakers are the No. 1 choice of the NBA to open the 2001-2002 regular season in Japan.

The list of possibilities will be narrowed sometime this winter, but the league must wait until the end of next season before making its international matchups since the champion will go to the McDonald’s Open. That probably will be held in Europe, with China as a longshot, and the NBA would not make a team take two international trips in the same general timeline.

There is no McDonald’s Open this fall because of the Olympics.

IN QUOTES

“We wanted to be champions tonight. It didn’t happen. So we’re a little disappointed, but it’s no biggie when you think about it.”

KOBE BRYANT

on losing Game 5

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“They just hit a lot of shots. We didn’t play hard at all.”

SHAQUILLE O’NEAL