The Last Season: A Team in Search of Its Soul
Encyclopedia
The Last Season: A Team in Search of Its Soul is a book published by American basketball coach Phil Jackson
; it deals with the ups and downs of the Los Angeles Lakers
' 2003-04 season
. Published by The Penguin Press shortly after the season's end, The Last Season offers Jackson's insight into the team's season that ended in a breakup but not a championship despite boasting four future Hall of Famers: Shaquille O'Neal
, Kobe Bryant
, Karl Malone
and Gary Payton
.
obscured the promise of the Lakers' recent offseason acquisitions of Payton and Malone. Regarding news of Bryant, Jackson wrote of his concern but also: "Kobe can be consumed with surprising anger, which he's displayed toward me and toward his teammates....He rebels against authority." Jackson and Laker management decided to loosen their reins on Bryant, who decided to play the season as normal, but with admittedly no patience for O'Neal's comments to the media. As in past seasons, the tensions between the angry Bryant and sensitive O'Neal grew, with intense media attention. Jackson, who suggests he has had a tenuous relationship with Bryant ever since a remark he made in a 2001 interview that Bryant "sabotaged" games in high school to win them at the end, states that the Lakers suspended talks over a contract extension after he shouted to General Manager Mitch Kupchak
"I won't coach this team next year if [Bryant] is still here. He won't listen to anyone. I've had it with this kid." Bryant, after realizing the apparent finality of his time with Jackson, more or less reached a distanced truce with him. An aging Laker team faced with these strains, veterans learning the triangle offense, and Malone's injury narrowly won the Pacific division and struggled to advance to the Finals, which it lost 4-1 to the Detroit Pistons
. The 2003-2004 Lakers' season, nicknamed "The Last Chance" and with a theme of sacrifice, ended short of an NBA championship and thus in disappointment.
, Jackson recounts Buss's explanation of the team's preference for Bryant rather than O'Neal, of which Jackson disapproved: "It's not that I'm enamored with Kobe's character. But he is twenty-six in August. The seven years ahead are the prime years of his career....I have to serve the people who are loyal to me. My mail runs about 5-1 on Kobe to Shaq." Jackson makes his own departure sound like a mutual decision with Laker management, saying he was "at peace" with the outcome, but he recorded Buss's remark: "We're going in a different direction." But Jackson's thoughts on Bryant caused the most stir. While calling coaching O'Neal "an experience I will cherish forever," his inflammatory comment on Bryant continued to draw attention when Jackson returned for a second coaching stint with the Lakers on June 15, 2005.
Phil Jackson
Philip Douglas "Phil" Jackson is a retired American professional basketball coach and player. Jackson is widely considered one of the greatest coaches in the history of the National Basketball Association . His reputation was established as head coach of the Chicago Bulls from 1989 through 1998;...
; it deals with the ups and downs of the Los Angeles Lakers
Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
' 2003-04 season
2003–04 Los Angeles Lakers season
The 2003-2004 Los Angeles Lakers reached the 2004 NBA Finals, losing in 5 games to the Detroit Pistons.-NBA Draft:-Depth chart:The 2003-2004 Los Angeles Lakers reached the 2004 NBA Finals, losing in 5 games to the Detroit Pistons.-NBA Draft:...
. Published by The Penguin Press shortly after the season's end, The Last Season offers Jackson's insight into the team's season that ended in a breakup but not a championship despite boasting four future Hall of Famers: Shaquille O'Neal
Shaquille O'Neal
Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal , nicknamed "Shaq" , is a former American professional basketball player. Standing tall and weighing , he was one of the heaviest players ever to play in the NBA...
, Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bean Bryant is an American professional basketball player who plays shooting guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . Bryant enjoyed a successful high school basketball career at Lower Merion High School, where he was recognized as the top high school...
, Karl Malone
Karl Malone
Karl Anthony Malone , nicknamed "The Mailman", is a retired American professional basketball power forward who spent the majority of his career with the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association . Malone spent his first 18 seasons with the Jazz and formed a formidable duo with his teammate...
and Gary Payton
Gary Payton
Gary Dwayne Payton is a former American professional basketball point guard. He is best known for his 13-year tenure with the Seattle SuperSonics, and holds Seattle franchise records in points, assists, and steals...
.
Purpose
In the prologue, Jackson says: "I didn't want this book to be about the small petty gossip that makes up a lot of the NBA world. We have plenty of reporters who fill that bill. I did want to develop a story about a season that was built around a team of stars — a couple of them past their prime and a couple who have all the problems that the modern sports world can bear," obvious references to Malone and Payton and O'Neal and Bryant, respectively. Jackson, also the co-author of Maverick (1975), Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior (1995), and More Than a Game (2001), goes on to say that he had kept journal entries in each of his seasons as an NBA head coach, and had encouragement to develop the season into a story.2003-04 offseason, season, and playoffs
The announcement of Bryant's Colorado sexual assault chargesKobe Bryant sexual assault case
The Kobe Bryant sexual assault case began in the summer of 2003 when the news media reported that the sheriff's office in Eagle, Colorado had arrested NBA superstar Kobe Bryant in connection with an investigation of a sexual assault complaint filed by a 19-year-old hotel employee...
obscured the promise of the Lakers' recent offseason acquisitions of Payton and Malone. Regarding news of Bryant, Jackson wrote of his concern but also: "Kobe can be consumed with surprising anger, which he's displayed toward me and toward his teammates....He rebels against authority." Jackson and Laker management decided to loosen their reins on Bryant, who decided to play the season as normal, but with admittedly no patience for O'Neal's comments to the media. As in past seasons, the tensions between the angry Bryant and sensitive O'Neal grew, with intense media attention. Jackson, who suggests he has had a tenuous relationship with Bryant ever since a remark he made in a 2001 interview that Bryant "sabotaged" games in high school to win them at the end, states that the Lakers suspended talks over a contract extension after he shouted to General Manager Mitch Kupchak
Mitch Kupchak
Mitchell "Mitch" Kupchak is a retired American basketball player and current general manager of the Los Angeles Lakers since the 2000–01 NBA season after predecessor Jerry West moved to the Memphis Grizzlies organization....
"I won't coach this team next year if [Bryant] is still here. He won't listen to anyone. I've had it with this kid." Bryant, after realizing the apparent finality of his time with Jackson, more or less reached a distanced truce with him. An aging Laker team faced with these strains, veterans learning the triangle offense, and Malone's injury narrowly won the Pacific division and struggled to advance to the Finals, which it lost 4-1 to the Detroit Pistons
Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons are a franchise of the National Basketball Association based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The team's home arena is The Palace of Auburn Hills. It was originally founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne Pistons as a member of the National Basketball League in 1941, where...
. The 2003-2004 Lakers' season, nicknamed "The Last Chance" and with a theme of sacrifice, ended short of an NBA championship and thus in disappointment.
Aftermath and controversy
The controversy surrounding the book concerns Jackson's characterization of Bryant and treatment of the breakup. In The Last Season Jackson suggests Bryant's influence on the dissolution and labels him "uncoachable". According to Jackson, in Bryant's exit interview with him he stated that O'Neal's fate with the Lakers would affect his decision to return, saying "I'm tired of being a sidekick." Later in a phone call with Lakers owner Jerry BussJerry Buss
Gerald Hatten "Jerry" Buss Ph.D., M.S. is an American businessman, real estate investor, and a former chemist. He is the majority owner of the Los Angeles Lakers professional basketball team along with other professional sports franchises in Southern California...
, Jackson recounts Buss's explanation of the team's preference for Bryant rather than O'Neal, of which Jackson disapproved: "It's not that I'm enamored with Kobe's character. But he is twenty-six in August. The seven years ahead are the prime years of his career....I have to serve the people who are loyal to me. My mail runs about 5-1 on Kobe to Shaq." Jackson makes his own departure sound like a mutual decision with Laker management, saying he was "at peace" with the outcome, but he recorded Buss's remark: "We're going in a different direction." But Jackson's thoughts on Bryant caused the most stir. While calling coaching O'Neal "an experience I will cherish forever," his inflammatory comment on Bryant continued to draw attention when Jackson returned for a second coaching stint with the Lakers on June 15, 2005.