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The Edge: Coaches
May 18, 2000
SportsLine.com staff
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| L.A. LAKERS |
PORTLAND |
| Phil Jackson |
Mike Dunleavy |
| The zen man can twirl his six rings and talk about harmony
all he wants but he's yet to win an NBA title without Michael Jordan. If he
gets one here, it further validates him as one of the great NBA coaches of
all-time. He already has the highest-winning percentage of any NBA coach in
the playoffs (.730).
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The last time Dunleavy was in the Western Conference finals,
he was coaching the Lakers to the NBA Finals in 1991, where they ended up
losing to Jackson's Bulls. Dunleavy was named the NBA Coach of the Year
last season and this year led the team to the second-best record in the
league.
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| Breakdown: The coaches have taken shots at each other off and on
throughout the year. Jackson quipped that the Blazers had the best team
money could buy (a $74 million payroll), Dunleavy answered with the Lakers
have the best coach money can buy ($6 mil per season). It will be a
disappointing season in the eyes of the coach who doesn't make it to the
NBA Finals.
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Edge: L.A. Lakers
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