Phil Jackson, and Gassing Up the Hybrid
Lakers coach Phil Jackson was asked, before today's game with Dallas, if the Lakers' surge has changed the way the team is treated, here in town.
"Yes," he said. "It's tough to get gas."
A few juvenile reporters (and that's not 100 percent redundant) snickered, so Jackson obliging added, "I have gas, but it's tough to get gas."
Then turning serious, he agreed the Lakers' profile is even higher, now that they have the best record in the Western Conference and recently ran off a 10-game winning streak.
"It reaches every realm of your life when you come back," he said, "but with that, I think the pros understand it and they know that the opponents we had for a lot of that streak weren't major opponents, in that run. We still have a lot to prove before we can be too happy with ourselves."
And the "trouble getting gas" thing?
"I was just rejoicing because I hadn't had to get gas for a month," Jackson said, referring to the team's nine-game road trip that ate up most of February. "And then I went to the gas station and ended up signing four autographs."
And what do you drive, Phil?
"I drive a hybred," he said. "I'm a politically correct person."
Well, of course.
If his knees and hips were in better shape "Green Phil" Jackson probably would ride a bicycle.