And Bryant was not attractive to Jackson the first time Jackson left the Lakers, but after a year off, Kobe and all of his foibles looked like, well, maybe a couple of titles.
One of the comedy routines by Chris Rock addresses the relationships between men and women, and Rock concludes by telling men what they need to understand: “It’s … all … about … her!”
And that’s the way it is in the NBA: “It’s … all … about … the … stars.”
Now that’s not particular shocking news. There is a glorious history of coaches who failed in relationships with players and, as a result, failed to keep their jobs.
Think back to the 1981 Lakers and Paul Westhead, whose system had a run-in with Magic Johnson, which resulted in Westhead being run out of Lakerland.
Think about the mid-1980s Celtics in near revolt to the heavy-handed ways of Bill Fitch, who just beat the posse out of town and fled to Houston. Easy-going players coach K.C. Jones was Fitch’s replacement.
The Bulls of the late 1980s did not respond to the intensity of Doug Collins, who was fired before Chicago and Michael Jordan started winning championships.
And after seasons of 60, 67 and 51 victories, Avery Johnson was asked to leave Dallas, with several players slamming the door behind him on his way out. Johnson had so alienated everyone that even Dirk Nowitzki, the ultimate laid-back superstar, called Johnson a “dictator” after Johnson was fired.
The power of players demonstrates the difference between sports and other businesses. The leader in other industries is rarely hired because he’s popular with the workers. But in the NBA and other professional sports, it’s vital. And those who understand it last the longest.
The longest tenured coach in major pro sports right now is San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich. He is a disciplined, no-nonsense leader who projects a my-way-or-the-highway image. Yet when 
explaining how his system has been so successful, how he has won four titles, how he has managed to last more than 16 seasons, Popovich can do it in five words:
David Robinson and Tim Duncan.
“If you had David Robinson and Tim Duncan,” Popovich has said before, “your system would work, too.”
That is overly simplistic, yet the sentiment is on target. The greatest coaches in the modern era, which is to say post-Red Auerbach, are the ones who allow themselves to be defined by the greatness of their players. Popovich, Jackson and Pat Riley have been masters at doing that, although Popovich clearly has a much more manageable ego than the latter two.
Still, we are consistently reminded that decisions on leadership in the NBA are made because of what might be appealing to the great players. The possibility that Brown may play a role in James returning to Cleveland would seem to be in the one-in-a-million range.
But perhaps Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert summoned his inner Lloyd Christmas of Dumb & Dumber fame and said to himself, “So you’re telling me there’s a chance.”
CHECK OUT JAN HUBBARD’S ARCHIVE FROM SHERIDAN HOOPS.COM. GREAT STUFF ON THE NBA, THEN AND NOW.
Jan Hubbard has written about basketball since 1976 and worked in the NBA league office for eight years between media stints. Follow him on Twitter at @whyhub.