Yeah, but that was another era. What was it, ten... eleven years after the Pistons pumped you til you got another one? And then, when Phil left, straight mediocrity.
The thing about Phil is that he can take garbage like Rodman and Artest and actually integrate them, because he's the absolute Alpha of the team. Kobe tried his little power play in 2004 and got punked for his trouble. Phil is the big swinging of the platoon. Players don't DARE cause trouble, and if they do a little, he usually chooses to ignore it. Bump up an assistant or hire a lame ass, and you'd better have Artest on the next flight out, or he will rip your team apart.