BOSTON — Phil Jackson couldn't always afford to be unconventional yet he maintained his nonconformity at a high cost anyway.
His reluctance to compromise this inherent distinctiveness (strangeness may be more accurate) delayed entry and acceptance into the league's "holiest" temple, er, fraternity for many years following retirement as a player.
Head coaches simply were too intimidated by the uninhibited Maverick, the name of his first book. An assistant's job (two as a player, one in street clothes) with Kevin Loughery's Nets abruptly ended when Larry Brown arrived in New Jersey for the 1981-82 season.