Presented by ZAMZOWS.
This Day In Sports…May 8, 2011, 15 years ago today:
Phil Jackson’s 20-year coaching career ends on an ignominious note, as the L.A. Lakers are pummeled 122-86 by the Dallas Mavericks to complete a sweep in the second round of the NBA Playoffs. The ending couldn’t diminish Jackson’s body of work, though. He was arguably the best coach in NBA history, winning a record 11 NBA championships with the Lakers and Chicago Bulls while partnering with superstars like Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. Jackson posted 1,640 regular season victories with a winning percentage of .704.
Jackson paid his dues on the coaching ladder, beginning his career as an assistant with the New Jersey Nets from 1978-81. He then spent four seasons as head coach of the Albany Patroons of the Continental Basketball Association before going outside the box—as he often did—first with Piratas de Quebradillas, and then with Gallitos de Isabela, both in Puerto Rico. He finally got his first NBA shot as an assistant with the Chicago Bulls in 1987 under Doug Collins. When Collins was fired in 1989, Jackson was elevated to head coach.
Four seasons later, Jackson had the Bulls at the mountaintop. He presided over both of Chicago’s NBA championship three-peats in the 1990s. Heck, it could have been eight titles in a row had Jordan not fooled around with baseball for the better part of two seasons. Jackson was burned out after the last of the six Bulls championships, though, and claimed he would never coach again. That sentiment lasted one year, and Jackson took over the Lakers in 1999. L.A. won the title in his first season there, and lo and behold, he had another three-peat by 2003.
But after the 2003-04 season ended, Jackson had grown tired of trying to manage the individuality of Bryant and his ongoing feud with fellow star Shaquille O’Neal and let his contract lapse. The Lakers, with O’Neal having been traded to Miami and Jackson stepping down, floundered without them—and Jackson was rehired for the 2005-06 campaign. His relationship with Bryant was not only repaired, but it flourished, and Jackson’s final two titles came with Kobe as his star. Throughout his coaching career, he had a zen for Zen, an alternative to his childhood teachings and something he applied as a coach.
Jackson has long had an affinity for the state of Montana, having been born in Deer Lodge. But he had a strict religious upbringing, and basketball was one of the only outside activities he was allowed to do. Jackson spent his college hoops career at the University of North Dakota from 1964-67 and was made the 17th overall pick by the Knicks in the 1967 NBA Draft. Now 80, the “Zen Master” has come full-circle and lives on Flathead Lake in Montana.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
