BOSTON — Phil Jackson couldn't always afford to be unconventional yet he maintained his nonconformity at a high cost anyway.

His reluctance to compromise this inherent distinctiveness (strangeness may be more accurate) delayed entry and acceptance into the league's "holiest" temple, er, fraternity for many years following retirement as a player.

Head coaches simply were too intimidated by the uninhibited Maverick, the name of his first book. An assistant's job (two as a player, one in street clothes) with Kevin Loughery's Nets abruptly ended when Larry Brown arrived in New Jersey for the 1981-82 season.

If not for an invitation from GM Jerry Krause to join Doug Collins' Bulls staff he may still be coaching in the minors while living (and getting stoned) in Woodstock.

Instead, Jackson is the Zen Hen and has been the NBA's highest paid camp counselor — currently $10 million with a $2 million bump on tap for the duration of his Lakers' extension — since his second trio of title triumphs with the Bulls.

Instead, Jackson is the league's supreme Sherpa as a result of nine (head) trips to the top of the mount; a total that ties him with Red Auerbach, an ancient mortal enemy Dr. Phil would love to leave in the (cigar) smoke at the expense of Red on Roundball's Celtics.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Thoughts about a celebration of life and a career remain four demanding and inspired capers away.

And one of them must be pulled off in front of a jury of jeers from 18,000 Bostonians.

And it's not as if Jackson is on a winning streak; his Lakers have gotten lower scores than their opponents in their last four Finals fandangos, three of them in 2004 against none other than Larry Brown's Pistons.

As if Jackson is losing any sleep over the "prolonged" bad run and his team exhibiting very little attitude or aptitude after intermission in Game 1.

That ricochets us to our original theme. Granted, last I looked, the Lakers were still blessed with the presence of Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol, whereas Paul Pierce is limping on a strained right meniscus.

And, yes, it's too early in the series to become a basket case. Nevertheless, just about every coach I know already would be leaning in that emotional misdirection.

Jackson is different.

That doesn't always mean good things happen. Often his otherness rubs friend and foe and those on the fence the wrong way.

Remember in '04 when he warned Shaq and Kobe of the consequences should they not play it his way?

When they went off on their own agendas he essentially sat back and let them suffer the nationally televised embarrassment.

Very different, indeed!

Jackson has been successful for so long it's almost as if he came into these Finals understanding a battle may need to be sacrificed in order to win the war.

Because the Lakers and Celtics hadn't met in months — never with Gasol — matchups were a mystery to him and Jackson didn't mind owning up to as much.

His game plan appeared to be, poke and probe, experiment with various combinations, get Jordan Farmar, Ronny Turiaf and Sasha Vujacic their championship round baptism (admittedly not enough for Farmar) and lay down the law.

Odom's night light was turned off for good with a couple minutes left on the game clock after he consistently failed to see the court and then blew a pivotal block out assignment.

Kobe fumed at himself for going on the blink when victory was within his reach, a Laker loyalist reports.

"If you saw him work out Friday, you would know you'll never see him shoot 9-for-26 (which a Boston Herald writer aptly called an Elmer Fudd performance) again."

"Kobe has to keep being the floor general. That's what got the Lakers this far," the same Laker loyalist stressed. "The trick is to stay in a calm yet assertive state. With all due respect to Chris Paul, nobody's better at knowing when to take over the game than Kobe."

Nobody other than Jackson could've gotten through to Kobe in the first couple months of this season and convinced him less scoring would translate into more wins. Eliciting team ball from this group of Lakers is his crowning achievement.

Kobe deserves to be MVP but Jackson has been "Le Difference."

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Don't get me wrong (don't get me started, either) but anyone who gets stabbed 11 times (as happened to Pierce a few years back) and doesn't miss a game the next season is tough in my book, but I would love to ask Willis Reed how he felt about the comparisons to his injury when he saw Pierce jumping up and down on the bench celebrating as if he were on a pogo stick.

The Captain, gorged with pain killers, was hard pressed to move after being subbed out in Game 7, let alone elevate to party after the Knicks won the '70 championship.

Peter Vecsey covers the NBA for the New York Post.