Chapter 527 When The Chosen One Judges

The Lakers set up an all-forward lineup to counter the Supersonics' continuous targeting of their inside players.

This was indeed beyond Tyronn Lue's expectations.

He thought Phil Jackson might reluctantly field a player like D.J. Mbenga to cover the court, but Jackson actually gave up playing a pure inside game.

But was this really a risk for Jackson?

Rather, many years ago, Jackson had tried similar tactics.

During the Bulls' second dynasty, the main center Luc Longley was often injured, and when backup centers like Bill Wennington proved ineffective, Jackson would field a lineup of Harper, Jordan, Pippen, Toni Kukoč, and Rodman to battle the opponents.

You could say this was Jackson experimenting with the so-called "future of basketball consists of five forwards" prophecy out of necessity, which Pat Riley promoted.

Today, reality's pressures once again reached the Lakers, forcing Jackson to give up Pau Gasol.