Video: Billy Donovan's Respect for Players Makes Thunder Work

In watching ESPN's lastest 30 for 30 the Last Dance, which chronicles the Chicago Bulls final championship run, I came away with a few observations that need some attention. Let's start with how Phil Jackson manages talent.

Jackson does what most good NBA coaches do; they allow alpha males to be themselves and don't let their ego get in the way success. Billy Donovan operates much in the same way.

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When you're thrust into the position of having to manage 15 different cooperations (players), you're not going to keep everybody happy. Donovan has always given Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, and Paul George their say on how things run.

Maybe to a fault, Dennis Schroder said in his exit interview at the end of last season that Donovan listened to the players too much. If that is true, it's still better than being a dictator who gets tuned out months into your tenure.

This year he is tapping into Chris Paul's leadership skills using Paul as an on the court coach. Donovan, to some extent, will go underappreciated Oklahoma City.

When Scott Brooks was let go in the final year of his contract, fans were looking for a name. Hoping for the likes of Mark Jackson, they got a guy who understands selflessness and knows how to put his players in a position to win.

The Last Dance roundtable: @SIChrisMannix, @McCannSportslaw, @JeremyWoo, @_Jarrelharris, @BenPickman, @RobinLundberg and @eswint22 offer the biggest takeaways from the first two episodes https://t.co/s9NpBSRP5M pic.twitter.com/8Azq5AXmmB
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Another observation (which most people will disagree with) is Jerry Krause is the unsung hero of the Bulls dynasty. If Krause doesn't run off Phil Jackson, Michael Jordan doesn't retire.

Had Krause and Jerry Reinsdorf allowed the Bulls to come to their natural end and decay like the Lakers and Celtics before them, it's possible they could have lost a finals series. Had that happened, we don't look Jordan and Scottie Pippen with the same mythical quality we do today.

6-0 in NBA finals appearances, to paraphrase Mercury Morris, it's not about the six its's about the zero. Krause's arrogance and ignorance preserved perfection.