7′2″ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Akins Game of Thrones to Lakers Debacle Involving a Life Threatening Disease to 13x NBA Champion

The Los Angeles Lakers were defeated by the Dallas Mavericks in 2011, and coach Phil Jackson shared one thing afterward. That was an indication of saying, “We’ll be back Tuesday.” However, after that, things arguably went downhill and ended in something nobody could have anticipated. 

Following that, Jackson and the Lakers went to the Staples Center. As it turned out, it wasn’t for a game, practice, or media conference, but for the final meeting with management before summer ended. In light of this news, many discussions and conversations around the NBA were covered. 

Since joining the Lakers in 1999, Jackson and the Lakers made great strides, winning three straight NBA championships. During that time period, fans witnessed one of the greatest NBA duos: Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant.

In the 2009 and 2010 seasons, they were among the top teams in the league, with Pau Gasol as their center. This partnership between Jackson and the Los Angeles Lakers ended after the 2010-11 season. 

It wasn’t going well as far as health-related problems were concerned for Phil Jackson during that particular season. This resulted in the team returning with a fighting spirit in March, but it wasn’t enough and lead to a disappointing season in the end.  

Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar compared ‘Game of Thrones’ to the changing of head coaches after Jackson left the team.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar gives his take on why the Lakers chose Mike Brown after Phil Jackson

It was in his blog that he shared the background story of what happened back in 2011, as well as the effects of it. According to him, it’s clear that Jackson wouldn’t return as a head coach after his training staff was let go. Abdul-Jabbar mentions that he was also part of that group let go at the time. Abdul-Jabbar then noted Phil Jackson’s battle with prostate cancer at the time, something he also went through as well. “He asked me about my surgical procedure and I filled him in in the gritty details,” he added. 

The six-time NBA champion then explained how the Lakers chose Mike Brown as Jackson’s replacement, despite Jackson’s assistant coach Brian Shaw being endorsed by both Jackson and Bryant to take over next.

He shared his opinion on why he believes Brian Shaw would have been a much better choice. According to him, Brown was fired in the following year and Jackson was asked to return.

“By 2012, they fired Mike Brown and asked Phil to return, but then they hired Mike D’Antoni before Phil gave them his decision. These behind-the-scenes machinations can seem very duplicitous and underhanded, but coaches of professional sports teams—like rulers in ‘Game of Thrones’—know that backstabbing is considered incidental contact and just part of the game,” in the words of Abdul-Jabbar.

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