by Charley Rosen

The Fixtures

2009 NBA Finals

Sunday's Game 5

• Lakers 99, Magic 86 (Lakers win 4-1)

---

FOXSports.com analysis

• Playoff results, schedule
• 2009 NBA Playoff Central
• Rosen: Why the Lakers won
• Behrendt: L.A's title sequence
• Rosenberg: Kobe not done yet
• Tomasson: Kobe proves critics wrong
• Feigen: Jackson in class of his own

---

Video

• Postgame: Lakers celebrate 15th title
• Postgame: Kobe leads Lakers to title
• Postgame: Magic discuss Finals loss
• Marques Johnson's NBA Finals recap

  ---

Photos

• NBA Finals, Game 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1

These guys can keep their jobs for as long as they like: Phil Jackson, Gregg Popovich, Jerry Sloan, Doc Rivers and Nate McMillan. Taken together they represent the gold-standards of integrity, motivation, discipline, expertise and personal character by which their peers are measured. Note that even though Sloan and McMillan are the only ring-less members of this elite quintet, this failing is compensated by the respect they engender all around the league.

Honeymooners

These guys have just arrived on the scene and will be given a temporary pass while the flavor lasts.

Even though the New York media is infamously impatient with failure, in the wake of the havoc wreaked by Larry Brown and Isiah Thomas, Mike D'Antoni is destined to be a fixture with the Knicks. That's assuming the media's barbs don't get under D'Antoni's thin skin.

If Michael Curry can't domesticate Rasheed Wallace and return the Pistons to glory, it might be easier to replace Curry than to completely overhaul the roster.

As long as the Bucks are relatively successful, Scott Skiles' manic style will be tolerated by the players. But if the losses start to add up, it won't be long before this will be Milwaukee's latest and most aggravated season of discontent.

Rick Carlisle has learned to make nice with the media and even answer dumb questions with a smile. But his tendency to micro-manage on offense could easily clash with Jason Kidd's desire to be provided with a loose structure that allows him unrestricted creativity. Even so, Mark Cuban will provide Carlisle with a long leash.

Great Expectations

These gents are faced with extremely difficult tasks. Being competitive will be sufficient for some of them to keep their jobs. For the rest, only an appearance in a conference championship will provide security.

The Raptors are expected to compete on more than equal terms with the Celtics, Pistons, Cavs and the upstart Sixers. Another ho-hum season in Toronto could easily jeopardize Sam Mitchell's status — as could another one of his habitual angry/arrogant/insulting public outbursts.

With Elton Brand added to the mix, Mo Cheeks is expected to lead the Sixers to elite status in the East. This expectation should be satisfied later rather than sooner.

Stan Van Gundy's team depends on Dwight Howard's beast-work on the boards and an inordinate reliance on long-distance dialing. Still, he's expected to mount a serious challenge to Boston for supremacy in the East. It says here that the Magic will make a valiant effort but fall short — enough of an effort to maintain VG's status as a local hero.

Byron Scott is secure on the Hornets' bench, but anything less than an appearance in the Finals will be seen as a profound disappointment.

Ditto for Rick Adelman in Houston.

The bar is set much lower for Erik Spoelstra. Given a healthy Dwyane Wade, a blue-chip rookie (Michael Beasley), and a reasonably contented Shawn Marion, the Heat should be able to be in playoff contention until midseason. By the way, there's absolutely no way that Pat Riley is willing to take the heat by returning to the bench.

Randy Wittman is likewise expected to prompt the T-Wolves to mere mediocrity. Certainly a reachable goal.

It won't be quite as easy for Terry Porter to resurrect the fortunes of the Suns. However, given the formidable opposition in the West, Porter will be considered a savior if Phoenix can achieve home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Eddie Jordan is expected to ride the backs of Washington's Medium Three (Arenas, Jamison and Butler) and finally become a powerhouse ball club. Anything less and Jordan might be searching the want ads next summer.

Into the Unknown

How many losses will the Bobcats suffer before Larry Brown goes into his habitual act of publicly denigrating his players and demanding wholesale trades? Or has the debacle in New York calmed his inner furies? It says here there's little chance of Brown retaining his emotional and physical well-being over the course of another sad-sack season.

Now that the Kings have rid themselves of all the bad guys, can Reggie Theus prove that nice guys don't have to finish last? If Sacramento turns out to be as bad a team as expected, how long before Theus is given his walking papers?

Vinnie Del Negro's pluses and minuses are a mystery, which is exactly why he'll be blamed if Derrick Rose is a slow learner and the Bulls continue to regress.

There's so much on-court and off-court intrigue in the Warriors' organization, that Don Nelson has become the NBA's equivalent of Captain Queeg. The inevitable mutiny could come from the top-down or from the bottom-up.

Now that Mike Dunleavy can't blame the Clippers' malfeasance on Elgin Baylor, will that clear or cloud the miasma that has chronically surrounded the franchise?

On the Chopping Block

The decision to rehire Mike Woodson was a squeaker and was primarily based on the Hawks' surprising showing against the Celtics in the playoffs. For Woodson to keep his job, the Hawks must resume their high-flying antics on a consistent basis, Joe Johnson must continue to be a fail-safe go-to scorer, Josh Smith must keep his yap shut and show up for every game, and Mike Bibby must prove that there's still plenty of gas in his tank. Should the Hawks lose three in a row before Thanksgiving, Woodson is advised not to send out his laundry.

With J-Kidd and Richard Jefferson elsewhere, and the Nets' proposed move to Brooklyn looking like a no-go, the pressure is on Lawrence Frank to produce a winning team right now. Yes, he's a nice guy and he works hard, but the Nets have run out of excuses and Frank is on the verge of running out of time.

During Mike Brown's tenure the Cavs have brought in a continuing series of secondary saviors — including Damon Jones, Larry Hughes, Ben Wallace and Mo Williams. Should Cleveland fail to return to the Finals, the bigwigs just may decide that the problem sits on the bench. Forget about the Cavs' shortcomings in the bigs department, Brown will take the fall.

What can Jim O'Brien do with Indiana's lackluster roster? Not much. But even though general managers assemble the parts, the coach's job is always on the line when those parts don't function properly. Also, GMs tend to overvalue the players they've obtained and tend to blame the coach as the losses mount. Besides which, Larry Bird is an institution in Indiana, while O'Brien is a carpetbagger.

Likewise will George Karl take the rap for the foolish moves made by the Nuggets' (dis)organization.

After last season's dismal results in Memphis, Marc Iavaroni is basically on probation. The only relevant question being this: Will Iavaroni still be around when/if the Grizzlies' youngsters develop into star-caliber players? Probably not.

Even if P.J. Carlesimo learns to love Oklahoma City's dubious gustatory specialties — which include chicken fried steak and barbequed baloney — the Thunder need to make some noise on the court for him to retain his citizenship in OKC. Given how hopeless the team's prospects are, Carlesimo will probably survive the season, unless their record and Carlesimo's routine blather move Kevin Durant to strangle him.