The transaction of greatest note this NBA offseason was announced beyond the glare of the

television lights, outside the confines of prime time, in a simple form unfit for layering

bundles of advertising around its structure.

"Count me in," said Phil Jackson late last month in announcing he'll return for one more

season as coach of the Los Angeles Lakers.

And on that note the Lakers became favorites to repeat in 2011, a designation they would

have been granted less freely, if at all, had Jackson had decided that, at 65, the thrill was

gone. Because when a coach wins 11 NBA titles it's absurd to downplay the magnitude of his

influence no matter how talented his players.

To minimize the contributions Jackson made to teams blessed with Michael Jordan and Scottie

Pippen, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal, and Kobe and Pau Gasol would be to misguidedly

insist that raw ability typically wins out regardless of the quality of the coaching. Ego

management became just as important as in-game X's and O's and pre-game preparation as pro

sports evolved into the current mega-money era. It takes a special leader to year in and year

out instill coddled stars with a sense of team while simultaneously elevating the supporting

cast to performing at a championship level.

Jackson's decision to give it another go surely was motivated, at least in small part, by

the thunderclaps and lightning bolts that ushered in this summer's fertile free-agent frenzy.

No one knew if LeBron James would seek to unite with Dwyane Wade or Chris Bosh, whether Wade

and Bosh would link arms, or whether all three would come together and bury a single franchise

in an embarrassment of basketball riches.

What was fairly certain is that one of those scenarios would come to pass, thereby creating

the perception that a new NBA power has been born, one ostensibly capable of challenging the

Lakers, which surely had Jackson thinking, "If it were only that easy." And the perception of

a new superpower became all the stronger once James, with Jim Gray and ESPN buying in

shamelessly laughable fashion, milked Thursday night's Decision to the max before announcing

he would join both Wade and Bosh in Miami.

It should be interesting. Adorning an NBA team with multiple superstars possessing

insatiable offensive hungers beckons trouble for coaches anything less than expert in the

practice of psychological massage. Ego conflicts are destined to arise. Who shoots when and

from where and how much quickly becomes a topic of constant media, fan and locker room

scrutiny. Distractions rapidly multiply. And no matter what transpires over the course of 82

regular-season games, especially if everything seems ideal, playoff pressures have been known

to expose fragile chemistries, as the Dallas Mavericks have consistently shown.

James may be the league's two-time reigning MVP, but is there really any doubt that Bryant

has been its most influential player over that span? Getting Kobe to buy into the concept of

team has been one of Jackson's most significant triumphs in a long list of coaching

achievements. Convincing Kobe that championships trump individual honors has been key to

L.A.'s successes. Because is there any doubt that, if left to his own devices, Bryant would

have made it a priority to answer LeBron's first MVP season with one of his own?

The Miami Heat just became the most talented three-man team in the NBA, one with nary any

cap space left to fill out the roster, formulate depth, land the type of role players who

always seem to play significant roles in championship runs. Which is why the Lakers remain the

favorites with Jackson back for another season and no doubt secretly hopeful of capping his

career by meeting The NBA's first Dream Team in The Finals.