Phil Jackson: Does This Embarrassing Ending Tarnish His Legendary Career?

Phil Jackson's historic career ends on a sour note.

The Los Angeles Lakers 2010-11 season—and perhaps the current Laker dynasty—just ended with a pathetic performance (in every way imaginable) in Game 4 of the Western Conference Semifinals.

Not only did the Lakers, who were down three games to none, show no fire in Dallas, but they lost by 36 points, and committed two disgraceful flagrant fouls in the fourth quarter.

Just minutes after Lamar Odom body checked Dirk Nowitzki to get tossed, Andrew Bynum delivered an elbow to the rib cage of J.J. Barea to get thrown out as well. All this one day after Jackson—who is expected to retire—was handed a $35,000 fine for complaining about the referees.

I know we live in an instantaneous news, what-have-you-done-for-me-lately world, but it's asinine to think the last 24 hours or so detract even one iota on Jackson's resume.

Yes, it was a sad way to go out. And it was hardly very honorable or dignified considering the enormous, uninspired, even bush-league performance. But this is a man who has won 11 NBA titles and transformed Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal and Michael Jordan from awesome individual talents into perennial world champions.

You can say what you want about having Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Bryant and O'Neal, but he had to coach them. How many coaches have been given superstar players yet were unable to produce even one title, let alone almost a dozen?

And the bottom line is this: Regardless of whether or not Phil won a 12th ring this year or the Lakers finished as a lottery team, his detractors wouldn't have begged off their argument of him as a push-button coach. 

But more to the point, not every career is going to end with a confetti and trophies and champagne spewing over the locker room. In fact, most don't. Even Michael Jordan's didn't...although it could have had he not given in to temptation and come back with Washington.

In sports, it's about the journey, not the destination.

Jackson spent 44 seasons in the NBA and remains one of the most important people in the last half-century of the league.

Everything he did in those thousands of games and dozens of playoff series, will not be undone by one crappy series showing from his team or two stupid fouls by his frustrated, immature players.