How many rings does Pop win if he coached Jordan, Pippen, Kobe & Shaq?

[Donkey4trading]

all in their primes...

[inclinerator]

10+

[JellyBean]

10+

I agree.

[NZStreetBaller]

the whole system would crumble you've got 3 alpha males who want to be the man. and pop is all about being a team and no egos.

MJ and Kobe alone would just fight over the ball lol.

EDIT:Shaq and Pippen wouldnt even touch the ball lol

[Donkey4trading]

I meant if he coached those two duos

sorry for not clarifying

[keep-itreal]

Pop couldn't even manage stephen jackson, you really think he could've handled shaq and kobe?:lol

[Siemens]

Are we talking all on 1 team, or just in Phil's place?

[TheMarkMadsen]

Are we talking all on 1 team, or just in Phil's place?

Essentially in Phil's place I would assume

[MEB2kDeez]

I say about 6-8, in my opinion.

His biggest problem would be managing egos.

[DMV2]

All 6 with Jordan and Pippen.

Possibly 6-peat with Shaq and Kobe, 2000-05 straight. Depends on how the Spurs will be without Pops.

[rmt]

I say about 6-8, in my opinion.

His biggest problem would be managing egos.

Pop's strength is not in managing egos. Spurs deliberately recruit players who have gotten over themselves (and have no ego issues). He is a father figure type and doesn't cater to players' egos - nothing like Phil and his zen philosophy. I'm not sure he'd do well with Shaq/Kobe. The reason he has so much control in SA is because Duncan allowed it (in his prime). If it came to a choice between super-star players and a coach, the coach is gonna lose every time.

[Shih508]

Depends on where he coaches them. Kobe ain't winning anything if he isn't playing for Lakers/Bulls or Knicks and David Sterns has to be the commissioner.

[Real14]

10+
end thread.

[poido123]

Not sure how Pop would deal with the big personalities on those teams.


I mean, guys like Rodman and Artest are not guys Pop encourages to play for his Spurs teams, assuming he's coaching the teams those guys played on too...


Jordan could be quite selfish at times, Shaq was known to be lazy with practice etc etc.


Spurs take on guys who buy into their system. Not guys who have infinite ego or behavioural issues.

[rmt]

Not sure how Pop would deal with the big personalities on those teams.


I mean, guys like Rodman and Artest are not guys Pop encourages to play for his Spurs teams, assuming he's coaching the teams those guys played on too...


Jordan could be quite selfish at times, Shaq was known to be lazy with practice etc etc.


Spurs take on guys who buy into their system. Not guys who have infinite ego or behavioural issues.

The only knucklehead who played for Pop was SJax. It went well the first go around but ended badly with SJax being cut from the team right before the playoffs. But by that time, Pop had built up enough control to do that. Not so early in his career or with super stars like MJ, Shaq and Kobe. He'd lose that battle every time.

[Dragic4Life]

Why mention kobe? He was carried. He will be carried in this scenario along with Pop.

[dubeta]

Why mention kobe? He was carried. He will be carried in this scenario along with Pop.

This.

[Genaro]

I don't think he wins as much as Phil. Phil's philosophy controlling the egos and engaging his superstars on the team first concept was second to none.
MJ, Kobe and Shaq embraced the team concept and learned to play as a team while having their best seasons under Phil.

[Spurs5Rings2014]

Without Duncan? 0. Pop is 1-7 without the GOAT.

:no:

[sportjames23]

all in their primes...


All on the same team? Every year he coaches.

[ImKobe]

Bulls? Same amount of rings.

Lakers stint? I'm not sure how he would handle that Shaq/Kobe feud, I think he would win at least the same amount of rings, maybe in 04 as well because he's not the type of a coach to support singing washed up stars like GP and Malone, so he probably puts a more balanced/better defensive roster around Shaq/Kobe.

[BigNBAfan]

this is unfair comparison - those players are the players you know today because they succeeded under Phil's unique offense. For all you know they'd be nobodies if it wasnt for Phil.

[STATUTORY]

pop would been fired and they would have hired Phil tbh

it's about managing personalities and egos

[j3lademaster]

MJ/ Pipp would have won 6 regardless of who the coach was. There was really no ego besides MJ on those Bulls squads; and it wasn't like Jordan wasn't running amuck punching teammates, throwing tantrums when he wouldn't get his apple sauce + graham crackers or anything.

Pop would have squeezed out a few championships out of the Kobe/ Shaq Lakers before that superteam succumbed to their egos anyway(like they inevitably did with Phil 'managing their egos'). 00 Lakers didn't have ego issues, everyone knew Shaq was the man; Pop would win with them. 01 Lakers went 14-1; ego or not they were too talented not to win that year. Kobe averaging 29/7/6 with elite defense and MDE Shaq? Sprinkle on the best clutch shooting roleplayers of all time for good measure? Forget about it.

Pop would do a better job than Phil on the Jones/ Van Exel/ Shaq Lakers though (yes, I know Phil didn't coach those teams and they aren't part of the debate).

[Demitri98]

Meltdown in the first season, a la 2013 Lakers.

Pop wouldn't be able to control Shaq and Kobe by themselves, let alone with MJ in the picture and Pippen wanting his too.

I firmly believe Kobe would defer to MJ at first, as it's his role model, but he sure as hell wouldn't back down if/when challenged.

Shaq couldn't coexist with Kobe, how do you expect him to coexist with Kobe AND Jordan? Shaq is tired of putting up with MJ and Kobe's bullshit and demands a trade. Pippen doesn't raise any stink and quietly requests a trade to take a bigger role somewhere else.

Kobe and MJ cooperate for a while with their new teammates from the trades, but eventually grow to despise each other and World War 3 explodes over who stays and who goes.

After weeks of tension, the ultimate alpha-male MJ wins and they trade Kobe.

MJ and Pop win ring after ring (6+) with all the quality players they acquire through trading Shaq, Kobe and Pippen and all 4 of them are happy with the run of their own team. Pop is regarded as the concensus GOAT coach for handling the situation and still coming out with jewelry, even though he had almost no part in it.