At least that’s what it appears in this story, which indicates a candidate who was heretofore unknown:

Jackson also said he did not anticipate coaching at the collegiate level, although a booster from the University of Oregon contacted him in hopes of Jackson taking over that program.

That’s PHIL Jackson, in an ESPN story.

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I will always fight the concept that you can judge a player’s ability by how many championships he’s won.

The absurdity was obvious Thursday night. Yes, Kobe Bryant won another ring. He was MVP of the series, too. But am I the only one who noticed he went 6 for 24 from the floor last night? Certainly ABC didn’t want to deliver that news, as it came very sparingly throughout the game. Guy was horrible. Shot selection was terrible and his shot making was even worse.

If the Lakers had lost, he’d have been the goat. But they won — and somehow he gets the credit for it. Fact is, the other guys — Derek Fisher, Ron Artest, Pau Gasol — stepped up and carried Bryant. No disgrace in that at all. It happens… but again, it merely points out that you need teammates to win.

And all the great players who toiled in the NBA for years without talent around them pay a heavy price for that. I mean, seriously — Oscar Robertson may be the best guard I’ve ever seen, but he didn’t win a title until he found Kareem Abdul-Jabbar late in his career.

After all these years people — even some of them outside of Boston — think Bill Russell was better than Wilt Chamberlain simply because of all the titles Russell won. Nothing against Bill, but if you ever watched the two men play there would be no doubt in your mind which was the more talented player.

Russell was blessed to play for a team that had cornered the market on talent in the NBA, while having the best coach and front office in the league.

I’m not a Kobe hater. I think he’s the best player in basketball and probably just about as talented as the player — Michael Jordan — he has copied, in almost everything from his walk to his step-back jumper.

But I guess I would tend to judge how good he is by his actual performance — in big games like a Game 7 in the NBA Finals — rather than the contributions of his teammates, which won him that last ring.

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– As bad as the Lakers played, it’s incredible the chances they still had inside the final minute of the game. Kobe Bryant had two brutal turnovers, one in the halfcourt where he tried to pass the ball back outside and the other in the Boston end where he couldn’t get an outlet pass over Kevin Garnett and missed a chance for a layup that would have cut the lead to four.

– As good as Bryant is, you can see how hard it’s getting to be for even superstars in the NBA to “get their own shot” consistently throughout a game against a quality opponent. It’s fine when Bryant is draining difficult outside shots, but over time, particularly late in games, it’s extremely difficult for a player against today’s defenses to do that. He’s got defenders all over him. It’s no wonder why he had seven turnovers for the game.

And you wonder why I’m down on the Trail Blazers’ chances of ever making a long playoff run using so many isolations for Brandon Roy? If Bryant can’t do it consistently, how could you expect Roy to do it? And spare me from any thoughts Roy is better than Bryant.

The Lakers are much, MUCH better when they share the ball. When they work the triangle and get good shots inside. But it’s a killer for them when Lamar Odom no-shows and Andrew Bynum isn’t healthy.

Bynum is the key to this series and a difference maker. But it appears that knee is getting worse the longer he plays.

– I give Danny Ainge a ton of credit for adding Nate Robinson to that team late in the season. People laughed when he did it, but it was a huge move. At the level of the Celtics, very often just one big quarter from an unexpected source can mean a championship. Or don’t you remember Herm Gilliam for the Trail Blazers in 1977?

– I am not sure that Boston bench can continue to produce at that level in Los Angeles. I will believe it when I see it.

– Big Baby is pretty good. Over and over we see this — effort and timing matter a lot more in rebounding than height.

– Doc Rivers continues to show he’s an outstanding coach who has a great sense of his team. He has a great feel for substitutions and insists on unselfish play at both ends of the court. On top of that, I think he’s managed to stay humble and retain his sense of humor. I love the way Boston plays at both ends of the floor.

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It’s a funny year. The Lakers are favored by the oddsmakers to win the NBA championship, yet a lot of very smart people are picking Boston to win.

I’m not one of those people. And for me, the series is pretty much a tossup other than one important thing, which I will get to in a moment. First, let me say I hope the Celtics aren’t allowed to turn the thing into a wrestling match. I think they want to get very physical with the Lakers and I’m weary of that kind of stuff. I didn’t like it when the Pistons did it, or the Knicks did it — and I still don’t.

I rue the day that basketball, and not just at the pro level — it’s brutal in college these days, too — got away from the fast-paced beautiful game it used to be. Now, there’s already too much grabbing, pushing, bumping and downright brutal play. It keeps the great players from fully showing what they can do and it keeps the scores down, which I don’t like, either.

Man, sorry to go old-timer on you, but those days when teams averaged nearly 120 points a game where amazing. But I doubt we’ll ever see them again. That’s when you actually had to defend someone by getting your body in front of them and not grabbing or bumping them. Which meant you really couldn’t defend them.

Anyway, the biggest factor of the Finals has been the decision several years ago to go to a 2-3-2 format. The road team is really up against it. It’s why when I hear people predict Boston to win in six or seven games, I shake my head.

I can’t see it. I can’t see the Lakers losing a Game 6 or 7 at home. For Boston to win the series, I think it has to come in four or five games, before the Finals shift back to the west coast. The 2-3-2 format has been a killer for the team without homecourt advantage.

And I just don’t see the Celtics being so much better than the Lakers that they can overcome it.

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I’ve made this known before, but I have to reiterate — don’t count me among those all geeked up for another Lakers-Celtics NBA Finals.

The tradition of this doesn’t move me much. I’ve seen them play enough over the years. Been there, done that — even in the days when a 2-2-1-1-1 travel schedule in a seven-game series between Boston and Los Angeles meant enough cross-country flights to jet lag me for days.

I find these the two most unlikeable franchises in the league — mostly for their arrogance, I guess. There is nothing very lovable about either team, if you ask me. And I’m hard-pressed, too, to pick a winner in the series or to even say which team I’d like to see win.

Usually, I’m more accustomed to subtly pulling against one of these teams. Now, I’ve got to watch one of them win. I suppose, if you put a gun to my head — and I wish you wouldn’t do that, by the way — I’d have to say I’d prefer the NBA championship stays in the West. But really, it wouldn’t break my heart to watch Phil Jackson lose a series.

However, it looks to me as if the Lakers may have too much for Boston this time around. I like the Los Angeles front line over Boston’s. And I like Kobe Bryant over anybody in basketball. The only thing that worries me is the physical nature of Boston’s defense. In the West half of this bracket, the Lakers haven’t seen a mugging like they’re going to get from the Celts.

I’m not sure the Phoenix Suns did much to prepare Los Angeles for the Celtics.

That’s Boston’s big chance — to physically beat up the Lakers and make it an old-fashioned, NBA wrestling match. And even without the physicality, the Celtic defense is much better than anything the Lakers have seen to date in the postseason.

I can’t recall ever saying this before, but I wouldn’t mind seeing it end quickly. Man, it seems to me that this has been one long NBA season. I wouldn’t mind seeing it finish up. Let’s get to the draft so we can start the whole thing all over again, right?

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• Isn’t it funny how all the people who said Orlando couldn’t win four straight against the Celtics — or even, when the Magic trailed 2-0 in the series, said they couldn’t win four out of five — are now saying that the Magic will win Game 6 in Boston and there’s no way Boston could win a Game 7 in Orlando? Don’t count on anything in that series.
• And people are talking about Phoenix “not boxing out” on Ron Artest late on the last play of Thursday night’s Laker win over the Suns. Thing is, when a guy throws an airball, boxing out isn’t always the answer. Boxing a guy out means being between him and the basket. On an airball, the guy with inside position doesn’t always get the ball. In this case, Artest had the advantage of coming from the weakside, so he had a line of vision to the ball and the rim, which helped him. The man “boxing him out,” Jason Richardson, didn’t watch the ball — which normally is OK. But it’s funny how often an airball is beneficial in that situation. A whole lot of big plays have come off offensive players plucking an airball and throwing it in the basket — just ask Houston against North Carolina State, the most heart-breaking loss I’ve ever seen in a big game.
• All of a sudden, people are making Orlando the favorite to win that series. I think you still have to think Boston will win Game 6. But in a city where the NHL Bruins famously blew a 3-0 series lead — even a 3-0 lead in Game 7 at home — there will be incredible depression in Boston if the Celts don’t win that series.
• Do the Blazers look good after seeing how well Phoenix has played in these playoffs? After all, Portland is so far the only team to defeat the Suns on their homecourt during the postseason. Yeah, I think it makes Portland look good. But I’ve also thought about what a great opportunity this season would have been for the Blazers if they’d stayed healthy. There was a definite path there to a long playoff run.
• If Orlando emerges from the East to a berth in the Finals, well, my love for Stan Van Gundy will continue to increase. Love the guy. One of the most straight-talking guys in sports. And he still COACHES. He never stops coaching. He doesn’t defer to these guys or shy away from confrontation — in fact, he gets right in their face. I’m not saying he’s going to last for a long time doing that, but I love it as long as he gets away with it. It’s refreshing.

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Everyone keeps talking about the Phoenix Suns confounding the Los Angeles Lakers with their zone defense. It’s becoming the story of the series, if you listen only to the television commentators.

But the fact is, the Lakers are shooting well enough to win and certainly scoring enough points. But the real problem for the Lakers is that, just like the Trail Blazers and Spurs, the Lakers can’t stop the Suns. That is one very good offensive team and even when Phoenix doesn’t shoot well, it still seems to put a lot of points up.

The Lakers are just not defending with any consistency and that’s the real problem. For the two games in Phoenix, the Lakers just did not guard the Suns very efficiently. I would not expect that to continue in Los Angeles but at this point I’m not quite as sure about the Lakers as I was a few days ago.

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Man, to go anywhere I think he’d want a firm commitment that LeBron James will be wherever he goes. And I’m not sure how the timing would go on something like that.

It’s no secret Jerry Buss wants to cut his salary in Los Angeles and Jim Buss, Jerry’s kid, is a bit of a pain in the ass in the front office. But come on, Jeannie Buss is still his girlfriend and Kobe Bryant’s got a few more years of dominant play. I just can’t imagine Phil bailing this soon. (By the way, if he does, it’s great news for the Western Conference. There is no tougher act to follow than Phil Jackson).

I do know, the minute Jackson’s convinced he can’t win championships there, he’ll walk. That’s for sure. He doesn’t do rebuilding. He isn’t patient. And folks, he’s not in a position to have to be. For me, I really don’t care what it costs to get him, if you bring him in, you’re pretty much assured you’re going to win.

And win big. He’s worth it. The guy is probably the only coach in the league with enough heft to handle James. In fact, I think he’d consider it a challenge. But in the back of my mind, there is something else — would James want to play for him? Does he really want to surrender to his coach? Maybe. Maybe not.

I’m still not convinced of exactly what James is looking for. If you ask me, things went off the tracks in Cleveland during the playoffs because of LeBron, not because of Coach Mike Brown. James doesn’t want to take responsibility for that but the fact is, if LeBron had been LeBron against the Celtics, Cleveland would likely still be playing.

Believe me, this promises to be the most interesting off-season for the NBA in years. Between all the free agents, all the cap space, all the coaching vacancies and the impending possibility of a work stoppage, this is going to be one riveting summer.

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Except me.

Yes, I know — best teams in the league. Long, long traditional rivalry. The matchup everyone wants to see. Blah, blah, blah.

But for me, the biggest problem the NBA has is that the same damn teams are winning the championship all the time. No other major sport has had just a handful of teams monopolizing its championships the way professional basketball does. And I think over the long run, it hurts the league.

I’m sick of Boston or Los Angeles winning titles over and over.

Yes, TV ratings will be sensational for an NBA Finals featuring the Celtics vs. the Lakers. And I’ll watch, too. For sure. But please, at some point, that league needs to show other franchises that they have an opportunity to win a title. There has to be at least a promise of parity. Man, I cannot believe the fans in so many NBA cities have been able to maintain hope after all the years of futility. Won’t, at some point, they just stop caring?

Or — believe it or not — maybe people out there in some markets are going to start believing the league is fixed.

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What’s your most overpowering thought about that, in conjunction with the Trail Blazers? Is it pride, that the Blazers were able to get a couple of games off the Suns and the Spurs were not?

Or is it anger that Portland couldn’t get past the Suns, knowing that the Spurs were so soft in the second round? Really, if Brandon Roy hadn’t gotten hurt late in the season, don’t you think Portland would have had a heck of a shot at knocking out Phoenix? That Roy we saw in the playoffs this season just wasn’t the same Brandon Roy we usually see, right?

I said it at the start of the playoffs, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a No. 6 seed get a draw in a bracket the way the Blazers did — with a season-series edge on all the teams it was likely to play all the way to the NBA Finals.

And by the way, do you expect Phoenix to be able to beat the Lakers?

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