Mediator of the year.(Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson)(Brief Article)

Don't be naive. As long as there are murals, TV commercials, billboards and sneaker wars, they will compete. When Kobe flips a McDonald's wrapper into a trash can, Shaq notices.

When a large Shaq portrait appears outside the Staples Center, Kobe notices. They are the two biggest stars in a glitzy league, playing in a hey-babe town.

What do you expect, no rivalry?

But for now, they've agreed to agree in the name of another championship. And for that truce, we must bow not only to Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant but to the mediator who reunited them. Yes, Phil Jackson talks smack and annoys people. Sure, he oozes the L.A. cliche: buy a Porsche convertible, live by the sea, split up with your wife, hook up with the boss' daughter. Yet no matter what the world thinks of him, give the man his props.

As his Lakers seek their niche in history, Jackson's place in the coaching pantheon now is crystal clear. He has proved himself beyond doubt as the supreme basketball chemist, once again squeezing peace, harmony and a dominant team for the ages from a complicated, combustible mess. His reputation was in limbo as recently as April, when a coach with seven rings appeared to be running a three-ring circus, seemingly clueless how to resolve the ego-driven rift between O'Neal and Bryant.

Shame on us for doubting. As if he merely snapped his fingers and shook his warring factions from a trance, the Lakers shed their dysfunctional baggage and forgot how to lose. Now, Shaq refers to Kobe as "my idol" and "the best player in the NBA, by far." Now, Kobe refers to Shaq as "Diesel" and "Big Guy." In a system structured around O'Neal's brute force, a little sports miracle has taken place. Kobe and Shaq are sharing the lead billing instead of fighting for it, a transformation that shocks even the peacemaker.

"I never thought we'd be playing this well, everyone on the same page," Jackson says. "The combination of the two of them is all that I envisioned they could be."