Metta Sandiford-Artest played for Phil Jackson on the Los Angeles Lakers, winning the 2010 NBA championship with the Purple and Gold and even having an epic moment with Kobe Bryant during the Finals.
The controversial forward had the chance to learn a lot from a legendary coach like Jackson, but he never quite understood the triangle offense that made Phil one of the greatest coaches in NBA history. He was doing his thing on the court and not bothering the superstars that took care of the offense, as he explained in a video.
Metta once tried to explain how the triangle offense worked, using food to break it down, ultimately giving a simple answer to what you should do if you wanted to implement that offense.
“Alright guy, this is how you run the triangle offense. You have the ball, you go to a player, you got the other go-to player like Kobe and Shaq and you have three random dudes. And this is basically how you run it: get out of the way, get out of the way, get out of the way. Figure it out. And that’s how you run the triangle,” he said while pointing out the two superstars.
This was a short and hilarious explanation, and it could describe how many players in the league perceived triangle offense. Well, those who learned how it worked became successful, like the mighty Chicago Bulls of the 1990s. The Lakers also had success with this offense at the start of the 2000s and then in 2009 and 2010.
Metta was part of that 2010 team that destroyed everybody on the way to their 16th NBA championship, but it’s clear that what he understood wasn’t what Phil was trying to explain.
