Five minutes before Mark Jackson was to conduct his initial rehearsal as a head coach at any level — ahem, exempting a brief AAU fling — he sat in the Warriors' locker room by himself and let his wired emotions guide him.
Jackson reached for his cell phone and called Lou Carnesecca. He told his groom for four varsity years at St. John's he was about to go on the court for his first practice and thanked him "for the seeds you sewed in my life." He said he'd forever be indebted "for how much I learned from you as a person and a player," and wanted him to know "a piece of you is going out there on the floor with me."
In classic Carnesecca style, the "old coach" offered Jackson some "scholarly" advice: "Don't let your best player inbound the ball."