 Jackson as Knicks President of Operations | |||
| Born | September 17, 1945 Deer Lodge, North Dakota | ||
| Nationality | American | ||
| Listed height | 6 ft 4 in ( m) | ||
| Listed weight | 210 lbs ( kg) | ||
| Record | 1155-485 | ||
| Best Record | 72-10 (1995-96) | ||
| NBA Titles | 13 (2 as a player, 11 as head coach) | ||
| Coaching career | 1984-2010 (26 years) | ||
| Position | Center / Guard | ||
| Jersey No. | 18 | ||
| High school | Wilson (Wilson, North Carolina) | ||
| College | North Dakota (1964-1967) | ||
| NBA Draft | 1967 / Round: 2 / Pick: 17th | ||
| Selected by the New York Knicks | |||
| Playing career | 1967–1980 (13 years) | ||
| as player | |||
| 1967–1978 | New York Knicks | ||
| 1979–1980 | New Jersey Nets | ||
| as coach | |||
| 1980–1984 | Albany Patroons | ||
| 1984–1988 | Chicago Bulls (assistant) | ||
| 1989–1998 | Chicago Bulls | ||
| 1999–2004, 2005–2011 |
Los Angeles Lakers | ||
| as executive | |||
| 2014–2017 | New York Knicks (President of Basketball Operations) | ||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
| |||
Philip Douglas Jackson (born September 17, 1945) is an American retired Hall of Fame Head coach and former professional basketball Center and Guard.
He is widely considered one of the greatest coaches in the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA). His reputation was established as head coach of the Chicago Bulls from 1988 through 1998 and 2005 through 2010; during his tenure, Chicago won six NBA titles. His next team, the Los Angeles Lakers, won three consecutive NBA titles from 2000-2002, and then two consecutive NBA titles in 2009 and 2010. In total, Jackson has won 2 NBA titles as a player and 11 NBA titles as a head coach, breaking the record once held by Red Auerbach. With 2 titles as an NBA Player (both with the New York Knicks) and 11 as coach, Jackson has won the most championship rings in NBA History surpassing Bill Russell's record with a total of 13 titles.
The Zen Master of the Triangle offense
Jackson is known for his use of Tex Winter's triangle offense as well as a holistic approach to coaching that is influenced by Eastern philosophy, earning him the nickname "Zen Master". (Jackson cites Robert Pirsig's book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance as one of the major guiding forces in his life. His fond admiration for the book is the source of his nickname "Zen Master.") He also applies Native American spiritual practices as documented in his book "Sacred Hoops."[1] He is the author of several candid books about his teams and his basketball strategies. Jackson is also a recipient of the state of North Dakota's Roughrider Award. Jackson leads the 2007 class of the Basketball Hall of Fame.[2] Jackson regularly attempts to alter his appearance so the media cannot use old photos of him for recent news, and, true to his word, as of September 2008, he was no longer sporting his illustrious, white mustache, which saw 9 NBA titles.[3]
Early years
Both of Jackson's parents, Charles and Elisabeth[4] Jackson, were Assemblies of God ministers. In the churches they served, his father generally preached on Sunday mornings and his mother on Sunday evenings. Eventually, his father would become a ministerial supervisor.[4] Phil, his two brothers, and his half-sister grew up in an extremely austere environment, in which no movies, dancing, or television (once there was a TV station where they lived) were allowed. He did not see his first movie until he was a senior in high school, and went to a dance for the first time in college.[5]
Phil Jackson attended high school in Williston, North Dakota where he played varsity basketball and led the team to two state titles. He also played football, was a pitcher in baseball, and threw the discus.[6] His older brother Chuck speculated years later that the three Jackson sons, including Phil, threw themselves passionately into athletics because it was the only time they were allowed to do what other children were doing.[7] Phil attracted the attention of several baseball scouts. Their notes found their way to future NBA coach Bill Fitch, who had previously coached baseball, and had been doing some scouting for the Atlanta Braves. Fitch took over as head basketball coach at The University of North Dakota in the spring of 1962, during Jackson's junior year of high school.[6]
Fitch successfully recruited him to UND, after dinner and a movie over a glass of wine,[8] where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity.[9] Jackson did well there, helping the Fighting Sioux to third- and fourth-place finishes in the NCAA Division II tournament in his sophomore and junior years (1965 and 1966). Both years, they would be beaten by Southern Illinois.[10] This was the era in which Jackson's future Knicks teammate Walt Frazier was the Salukis' biggest star, but the two only faced off in 1965, as Frazier was academically ineligible in 1966. In college, Phil majored in Religion, Philosophy, and Psychology.
In Williston, North Dakota, where Jackson attended high school, a sports complex is named after him.
NBA playing career
In 1967, Jackson was drafted in the second round by the New York Knicks. While he was a good all-around athlete, with unusually long arms, he was very limited offensively.[11] He compensated for his offensive limitations with sheer intelligence and hard work, especially on defense,[12] and eventually established himself as a fan favorite and one of the NBA's leading substitutes. He was a top reserve on the Knicks team that won the NBA title in 1973 (Jackson missed being part of New York's 1970 championship season due to spinal fusion surgery, however, he authored a book entitled "Take It All" which was a photo diary of the Knicks' 1970 Championship run). Soon after the second title, several key starters of the championship teams retired, eventually forcing Jackson into the starting lineup.[12] He lived in Leonia, New Jersey. After going across the Hudson to the New Jersey Nets in 1978 and playing there for two seasons, he retired from play in 1980.
In the 1974-75 NBA season, the Knicks' Phil Jackson and the Milwaukee Bucks' Bob Dandridge shared the lead for total personal fouls, with 330 each.[13]
Coaching
In the following years, he mainly coached in lower-level professional leagues, notably the Continental Basketball Association and the Piratas de Quebradillas of Puerto Rico's National Superior Basketball (BSN). While in the CBA, he won his first coaching championship, leading the Albany Patroons to their first CBA title. He regularly sought an NBA job, but was invariably turned down; during his playing years, he had acquired a reputation for being sympathetic to the counterculture, which may have scared off potential NBA employers. Most notably, while still playing for the Knicks in 1975, he had detailed his experimentation with LSD in an early autobiography, Maverick.[14]
Chicago Bulls
Jackson was hired as assistant coach for the Bulls in 1987, and promoted to head coach in 1989 where he coached until 1998. It was at this time that he met Tex Winter and became a devotee of Winter's triangle offense.[15][16] Over 9 seasons, Jackson coached the Bulls to 6 championships in impressive fashion, twice winning three straight championships over separate three year periods. The "three-peat" was the first since the Boston Celtics won eight titles in a row from 1959 through 1966.
Jackson and the Bulls made the playoffs every year, and failed to win the title only three times. Jackson lost in his first season in 1990. Michael Jordan's first retirement after the 1993 season marked the end of the first "three-peat," and although Jordan returned just before the 1995 playoffs, it was not enough to prevent a playoff exit to the rising Orlando Magic. During the first "three-peat," the Bulls won the NBA title in 1992 as sports championship fever hit Chicago, as the Blackhawks were in the NHL Stanley Cup Finals at the same time. Jackson would later recount that the sports championship fever that New York experienced two years later when both the Knicks and the Rangers were in their respective league's finals in the same year was no stranger to Rangers Coach Mike Keenan[17], as he was coach of the Blackhawks in 1992.
The chemistry developed between Jackson and the players was one of the best in NBA history. The respect shared between the players and the coach was the key factor in being able to build up a dynasty. While Jordan was already long considered the most dominant player, Jackson was also credited as one of the most important elements in the Bulls' championships and his work earned him league-wide recognition.
Regardless of the success Jackson shared with his team, the tension between Jackson and Bulls general manager Jerry Krause grew. Some believed that Krause felt under-recognized for his work in building the Bulls up into a championship team, being jealous of the attention received by Jordan and Jackson. In particular, Krause believed that Jackson was indebted to him because Jackson received his first NBA coaching job from Krause. Some examples of the tension include:
- During the summer of 1997, Krause's stepdaughter got married. All of the Bulls assistant coaches and their wives were invited to the wedding, as was Tim Floyd, then the head coach at Iowa State, whom Krause was openly courting as Jackson's successor (and who would eventually succeed Jackson). Jackson and his wife at the time, June, were not even told of the wedding, much less invited, only finding out about the event when the wife of assistant Bill Cartwright asked June what she would be wearing to the reception.[18]
- After contentious negotiations between Jackson and the Bulls in that same period, Jackson was signed for the 1997-98 season only. Krause announced the signing in what Chicago media widely considered to be a mean-spirited manner, emphasizing that Jackson would not be rehired even if the Bulls won the 1997-98 title. That triggered an argument between Jackson and Krause in which Jackson essentially told Krause that he seemed to be rooting for the other side and not the Bulls. At that point, Krause told Jackson, "I don't care if it's 82-and-0 this year, you're f---ing gone."[19]
- Krause publicly portrayed Jackson as a two-faced character who had very little regard for his assistant coaches, a perception that certain Krause associates in the Bulls organization had sought to spread about Jackson. At the height of the hard feelings in the spring of 1998, one of Krause's scouts went to press row in Chicago's United Center to explain to a reporter the insidious nature of Jackson's ego. (excerpt from the Phil Jackson biography Mindgames)
After the Bulls' final title of the Jordan era in 1998, Jackson left the team vowing never to coach again. However, after taking a year off, he decided to give it another chance with the Los Angeles Lakers from 1999 to 2004 and again from 2005 to the present.
Los Angeles Lakers
Jackson took over a talented but troubled Lakers team and immediately produced results. In his first year in L.A., the Lakers went 67-15 during the regular season to top the league. Reaching the conference finals, they dispatched the Portland Trail Blazers in a tough seven-game series and then won the 2000 NBA championship by beating the Indiana Pacers.
Titles in 2001 and 2002 followed, against the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets, adding up to a three-peat. The main serious challenge the Lakers faced was from their conference rival, the Sacramento Kings.
However, injuries, weak bench play, and full-blown public tension between Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal slowed the team down, and they were beaten in the second round of the 2003 NBA Playoffs by the eventual champion San Antonio Spurs.
Afterward, Jackson clashed frequently with Bryant. While remarkably efficient in Jackson's "triangle offense", Bryant had a personal distaste for Jackson's brand of basketball and subsequently called it "boring." In games, Bryant would often disregard the set offense completely to experiment with his own one-on-one moves, incensing the normally calm Jackson. Bryant managed to test Jackson's patience enough that the "Zen Master" even demanded that Bryant be traded, although Laker management rejected the request.
Prior to the 2003–04 season, the Lakers signed NBA star veterans Karl Malone and Gary Payton, who had been franchise players for the Utah Jazz and the Seattle SuperSonics, respectively, leading to predictions by some that the team would finish with the best record in NBA history. But from the first day of training camp, the Lakers were beset by distractions. Bryant's rape trial, continued public sniping between O'Neal and Bryant, and repeated disputes between Jackson and Bryant all affected the team during the season. Despite these distractions, the Lakers beat the defending champion Spurs en route to advancing to the NBA Final and were heavy favorites to regain the title. However, they were stunned by the Detroit Pistons, who utterly dominated the series and defeated the Lakers four games to one.
On June 18, 2004, three days after Jackson had suffered his first-ever loss in an NBA Finals series, the Lakers announced that Jackson would leave his position as Lakers coach. Many fans attributed Jackson's departure directly to the wishes of Bryant, as Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss reportedly sided with Bryant. Jackson, Bryant and Buss all denied that Bryant had made any explicit demand regarding Jackson. However, O'Neal, upon hearing General Manager Mitch Kupchak's announcement of the team's willingness to trade O'Neal and its intention to keep Bryant, indicated that he felt the franchise was indeed pandering to Bryant's wishes with the departure of Jackson. O'Neal's trade to the Miami Heat was the end of the "Trifecta" that had led the Lakers to three championship titles.
That fall, Jackson released The Last Season, a book which describes his point of view of the tensions that surrounded the 2003–04 Lakers team. The book was pointedly critical of Kobe Bryant; at one point, Jackson called Bryant "uncoachable."
Without Jackson and O'Neal the Lakers were forced to become a faster paced team on the court. Though they achieved some success in the first half of the season, injuries to several players including stars Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odom forced the team out of contention, going 34-48 in 2004–05 and missing the playoffs for the first time in eleven years. Jackson's successor as coach, Rudy Tomjanovich, resigned midway through the season, citing health issues, immediately leading to speculation that the Lakers might bring Jackson back.
On June 15, 2005, the Lakers rehired Phil Jackson. Jackson took a Laker squad that was mediocre, aside from superstar Kobe Bryant, and led them to a seventh-seed playoff berth. Once again promoting the notion of selfless team play embodied by the triangle offense, the team achieved substantial results, especially in the last month of the season. Jackson also worked seamlessly with Bryant, who had earlier shown his willingness to bring back Jackson to the bench. Bryant's regular-season performance won him the league scoring title and made him a finalist in MVP voting. However, the Lakers faced a tough 2006 first-round matchup against the second-seeded Phoenix Suns, who were led by eventual MVP winner Steve Nash. It was the first time that Jackson's team had failed to reach the second round of the playoffs. The Lakers jumped out to a 3-1 lead following a dramatic last second shot by Bryant in overtime to win game four, but the Suns recovered to win the last three and take the series. Many consider that seven game Lakers-Suns contest to be among the greatest first-round series in NBA history.
Jackson's main tactical contribution, both with the Bulls and the Lakers, was the modernization of the triangle offense. He is also noted as a gifted handler of difficult players, notably Dennis Rodman and Kwame Brown. Jackson currently makes $10,000,000 a year, making him the highest paid coach in NBA history.
On January 7, 2007, Jackson won his 900th game, currently placing him 9th on the all-time win list for NBA coaches. With this win, Jackson became the fastest to reach 900 career wins, doing so in only 1,264 games and beating Pat Riley's previous record of 900 in 1,278 games.
On December 12, 2007, after announcing he would return to his position as coach just a few days prior, Phil Jackson inked a 2-year contract extension to continue his tenure with the Los Angeles Lakers through the end of the 2009-2010 season.[1]
Jackson has a total of 13 NBA championship rings: two as a player with the New York Knicks, six as coach of the Bulls, and five as coach of the Lakers. Nine NBA championships as a head coach ties him with Red Auerbach for the all-time lead in that category. Phil Jackson also holds the best playoff winning percentage of all-time. As of the end of the 2007–08 NBA season, Jackson's regular season record stands at 976-418.
He coached the Lakers in the 2008 NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics. Boston won the series in game 6 of the NBA finals, beating the Lakers in the final game in Boston.
He then led the Lakers back to the finals for two consecutive championships, against the Orlando Magic led by Dwight Howard, and a rematch series against the Boston Celtics, this time the Lakers took it in 7 games.
On Christmas Day of 2008, Jackson became the 6th coach to win 1000 games, with the Lakers defeating the Celtics in their first match up of the 2008-2009 season after losing to them in the 2008 NBA Finals. He was the fastest to win 1000 games surpassing Pat Riley who had taken 11 more games than Jackson.
After the Lakers got swept in the second round of the 2010-11 season playoffs by the Dallas Mavericks, Phil Jackson retired as coach of the Lakers.
Motivational techniques
Along with being called the "Zen Master", Jackson is known as the master of mind games. In the Laker film room before the 2000 playoffs, Jackson displayed images of Edward Norton's character from the movie American History X, who has a bald head and a tattoo of a swastika, alternating with photos with Sacramento's white, shaved-headed and tattooed point guard, Jason Williams. Jackson then displayed pictures of Adolf Hitler alternately appearing with Sacramento coach Rick Adelman. When Rick Adelman learned of this, he openly questioned Jackson's motivational techniques saying Jackson had "crossed the line".[20] Nevertheless, the Lakers went on to win the series and the championship.
In addition, in the 2001 NBA Finals against the Philadelphia 76ers, Jackson had Tyronn Lue, a player on the Lakers team who was comparable in size and height to Sixers star Allen Iverson, wear a sock on his arm during Lakers practice to simulate Iverson's use of a compression arm sleeve as part of his regular gametime attire. Philadelphia media considered this to be a mind game tactic of Jackson's, but the main idea was to simulate what a game against Iverson is like, right down to the tattoos and cornrows (which Lue also had).[21]
Coaching record
| Regular season | G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | W–L % | Win–loss % |
| Playoffs | PG | Playoff games | PW | Playoff wins | PL | Playoff losses | PW–L % | Playoff win–loss % |
| Team | Year | G | W | L | W–L% | Finish | PG | PW | PL | PW–L% | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago | 1989–90 | 82 | 55 | 27 | .671 | 2nd in Central | 16 | 10 | 6 | Lost in Conference Finals | |
| Chicago | 1990–91 | 82 | 61 | 21 | .744 | 1st in Central | 17 | 15 | 2 | Won NBA Championship | |
| Chicago | 1991–92 | 82 | 67 | 15 | .817 | 1st in Central | 22 | 15 | 7 | Won NBA Championship | |
| Chicago | 1992–93 | 82 | 57 | 25 | .695 | 1st in Central | 19 | 15 | 4 | Won NBA Championship | |
| Chicago | 1993–94 | 82 | 55 | 27 | .671 | 2nd in Central | 10 | 6 | 4 | Lost in Conference Semifinals | |
| Chicago | 1994–95 | 82 | 47 | 35 | .573 | 3rd in Central | 10 | 5 | 5 | Lost in Conference Semifinals | |
| Chicago | 1995–96 | 82 | 72 | 10 | .878 | 1st in Central | 18 | 15 | 3 | Won NBA Championship | |
| Chicago | 1996–97 | 82 | 69 | 13 | .841 | 1st in Central | 19 | 15 | 4 | Won NBA Championship | |
| Chicago | 1997–98 | 82 | 62 | 20 | .756 | 1st in Central | 21 | 15 | 6 | Won NBA Championship | |
| Los Angeles | 1999–00 | 82 | 67 | 15 | .817 | 1st in Pacific | 23 | 15 | 8 | Won NBA Championship | |
| Los Angeles | 2000–01 | 82 | 56 | 26 | .683 | 1st in Pacific | 16 | 15 | 1 | Won NBA Championship | |
| Los Angeles | 2001–02 | 82 | 58 | 24 | .707 | 2nd in Pacific | 19 | 15 | 4 | Won NBA Championship | |
| Los Angeles | 2002–03 | 82 | 50 | 32 | .610 | 2nd in Pacific | 12 | 6 | 6 | Lost in Conference Semifinals | |
| Los Angeles | 2003–04 | 82 | 56 | 26 | .683 | 1st in Pacific | 22 | 13 | 9 | Lost in NBA Finals | |
| Los Angeles | 2005–06 | 82 | 45 | 37 | .549 | 3rd in Pacific | 7 | 3 | 4 | Lost in First Round | |
| Los Angeles | 2006–07 | 82 | 42 | 40 | .512 | 2nd in Pacific | 5 | 1 | 4 | Lost in First Round | |
| Los Angeles | 2007–08 | 82 | 57 | 25 | .695 | 1st in Pacific | 21 | 14 | 7 | Lost in NBA Finals | |
| Los Angeles | 2008–09 | 42 | 34 | 8 | .81 | 1st in Pacific | |||||
| Career | 1428 | 1004 | 424 | .704 | 277 | 193 | 84 |
Books by Phil Jackson
- Take It All! (1970) (with George Kalinsky) ISBN Not known
- Maverick (1975) (with Charley Rosen) ISBN 0-87223-439-8
- Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior (1995) (with Hugh Delehanty) ISBN 0-7868-6206-8, ISBN 0-7868-8200-X
- More than a Game (2001) (with Charley Rosen— chapters alternate between the two authors) ISBN 1-58322-060-7, ISBN 0-7434-4411-6
- The Last Season: A Team in Search of Its Soul (2004) (with Michael Arkush) ISBN 1-59420-035-1, ISBN 0-14-303587-8
Gallery
Notes
- ↑ Online NewsHour: Court Zen- June 16, 2000
- ↑ RealGM: Wiretap Archives: Jackson And Williams Lead HOF Class
- ↑ http://www.ocregister.com/articles/jackson-years-gone-2198274-clean-look
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Template:Cite book
- ↑ Halberstam, Playing for Keeps, pp. 252-53.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Halberstam, Playing for Keeps, p. 51.
- ↑ Halberstam, Playing for Keeps, p. 254.
- ↑ Halberstam, Playing for Keeps, pp. 201-207.
- ↑ Facts and History, Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
- ↑ Halberstam, Playing for Keeps, p. 53.
- ↑ Halberstam, Playing for Keeps, p. 190.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Halberstam, Playing for Keeps, p. 191.
- ↑ 1974-75 NBA Player Register, basketball-reference.com
- ↑ Halberstam, Playing for Keeps, p. 192.
- ↑ ABC News (49): Former K-State basketball star dies at 72; February 22, 2007. accessed on October 2, 2007.
- ↑ Canada Basketball: Candidates for the 2007 Class of the FIBA Hall of Fame announced; May 25, 2007 accessed on October 2, 2007.
- ↑ "Spring of '94," MSG Network
- ↑ Halberstam, Playing for Keeps, p. 249.
- ↑ Halberstam, Playing for Keeps, p. 41. The "82" refers to the number of regular-season games each NBA team plays.
- ↑ Sports: Veterans keeping Pacers in contention
- ↑ NBA Finals 2001
External links
Template:Wikiquote Template:Commons
- Phil Jackson coach profile at NBA.com
- Phil Jackson InsideHoops.com profile
- Phil Jackson Basketball
- The Triangle Offense with Phil Jackson
- Template:Imdb name