Phil Jackson said something stupid, again.
Jackson agreed with the argument that the Rockets' championships were tainted because Michael Jordan was out of the league for the first of their title seasons and much of the next.
"Definitely," Jackson said. "Without a doubt. Clearly, if the Bulls were whole, we would have won. It's pretty much registered by now. When Michael played, we won the championship."
Phil, please up the ante. You know that, had Michael Jordan played for 38 years, the Bulls would have won 31 championships, since he didn't win one for his first seven years in the league. But that's okay, because whenever he played, Chicago won the championship, at least in Phil's head.
Kelly Dwyer promptly questioned Jackson's assertion at Ball Don't Lie, and rightfully so. Nobody can be certain that the Bulls absolutely would have won. Perhaps they could have, but there's no guarantee - that Rockets team featured a pretty decent star of its own, yes?
Speaking of hypotheticals, could the Rockets have beaten the Mavericks in the 2005 playoffs had the referees not targeted Yao unfairly? Without a doubt. Could the Rockets have won, like, 3 titles had Tracy McGrady and Yao stayed healthy? Without a doubt. Could Houston have beaten Jackson's Lakers in the 2009 playoffs had Yao stayed healthy? Yes, without a doubt.
See, this is all silly. Somewhere, Phil is relaxing in his gigantic, oversized chair, listening to some zen-Buddhist version of Bruce Springsteen's "Glory Days" while watching a Steve Kerr/John Paxson highlight film that features nothing but each of the game-winning playoff shots that the two small, white guards hit, over and over and over again.