More Laker History

This time, with the 99-97 win tonight against Charlotte, Phil Jackson became the winningest coach in Laker history, passing Pat Riley with his 534th career win as a Laker.

533 and 2

So you might be wondering what the two numbers mean. Well, the first one is pretty simple. Phil Jackson tied Pat Riley yesterday with 533 wins on the all-time Lakers win list for coaches in the Lakers 90-89 win at Boston. And Kobe was it again with yet another game-winner.

The number two might be a bit more difficult to decipher without a Laker "Number Translator."

Today marks the two-year anniversary of the Pau Gasol trade to the Lakers. In the process, they unloaded some dead weight on the team, most notably Kwame Brown, Marc Gasol, his little brother, and Javaris Crittenton, who was recently suspended for the remainder of the season by the NBA for taking part in the Dirty Harry weapon-draw incident with teammate Gilbert Arenas last month.

But it's become pretty obvious how valuable Gasol has become to the Lakers over the last two years. The Lakers have been in the last two Finals since the trade. And here's some irony for you:

On the two-year anniversary of the trade, the Lakers continue their eight-game road trip tonight in of all places, Memphis, where Gasol came to the Lakers from. So you can imagine that even as Gasol has become a mainstay and fan-favorite in L.A., and he has grown to love it there, he will have some mixed emotions as he takes the floor tonight to take on his old team.

And Yet Another Laker Milestone

And this one has nothing to do with Kobe.

Phil Jackson is just one win shy of tying Pat Riley atop the Lakers all-time wins list for coaches with 533 wins. Riles has a better win percentage with the Lakers with his 533-194 mark. Phil has 253 losses.

*****

Also forgot to congratulate Kobe on his All-Star selection, as well. He was voted in by the fans as a starter, and will be joined by teammate Pau Gasol, selected as a reserve on the West team. The All-Star game is next Sunday on Valentine's Day in Arlington at Cowboys Stadium. So far, more than 85,000 seats have been sold for this game, with an additional 15,000 standing-room only tickets expected to be sold. The 100,000 plus in attendance for the game would demolish the all-time attendance record for any basketball game anywhere.