Phil Jackson just got swept out of the playoffs, [HELL, YEAH!] um..I mean the LA Lakers who were looking to “three-peat” didn’t win any games in its second round NBA match-up against Mark Cuban and his band of Mavericks from Dallas. Now Jackson says he’s retiring with his 11 NBA championships (as a coach) and his one as a player with the Knicks back in ’73.
With my full disclosure of being a Celtic fan – Good Riddance, Phillip! As a journalist I have to start/stoke the debate. Is Phil Jackson the Greatest NBA Coach of All Time? Some will say yes, some will say no. Some will say he had great players – ala Jordan/Kobe/Shaq who won all those championships, not Jackson. 
Legendary (G.O.A.T.) Celtic Coach Red Auerbach won nine championships and could have had a couple more as a coach before he turned the reigns over to (G.O.A.T.) center/coach Bill Russell in the late 60’s. Former Laker Coach Pat Riley won championships in LA with (G.O.A.T) Lew Alcinder/Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Magic and Worthy. All three had “great players” who won championships…but what happened before those coaches “moved up the bench.”
Riley was riding the pine as an assistant coach and gathered a ring under the Paul Westhead led Lakers. Magic staged a coup and Riley moved up a seat and led the Lakers to four more titles. Those teams had been built by (G.O.A.T.) GM Jerry West but needed someone to steer it. One title a star player can win, more than one is due to coaching that assembled talent.
Between Riley and Jackson there were three other head coaches and another (Rudy Tomjanovich) if you count Jackson’s first coaching retirement back in 2004, oh, and three more that served parts of seasons. So seven total folks tried to bring a championship to LA between Riley and Jackson with a lot of the same “great players” who win championships.
Jackson’s stint in Chicago started when he moved up the bench taking over for Doug Collins who had been in charge for three years producing no championships for Jordan and friends.
Ever heard of Alvin “Doggie” Julian? He led the Celtics for two seasons before Red back when the NBA had the glamour of your kid’s middle school mid-season game. Back then, Red was the Celtics. He coached, he drafted, he negotiated, he scouted, and he made travel plans and pretty much everything else. He built a dynasty from nothing, coached it into the record books and handed the keys off to a man he had instilled the Celtic pride. A black man – Bill Russell – in 1968, in Boston – one of the most racially charged cities in America at that time. Russell added two more championship banners. Oh, and two more players from Red’s team eventually coached the Celtics and added two more championships each (Tommy Heinsohn and K.C. Jones)
And who coached Dallas this year? Rick Carlisle who played for K.C. Jones who played for Red Auerbach and currently have 11 championships so far between them. Did I mention that the NBA Coach of the Year Trophy is a statue of Red?…hmmm…
So until Jackson hands his team over to one of his players (Can you hear me, Kobe?) and have him lead it to an NBA championship, we’ll just hold up on all this talk about Jackson’s G.O.A.T. coaching potential. Until then, you’re second chair, Phillip.
What do you think?
By Mark
This post is brought to you by the fine folks at Paragon Aparments, offering apartments across Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky, and the Paragon Patio, where residents connect. We’d love to talk with you on Facebook and Twitter!
This post is brought to you by the fine folks at Paragon Apartments, offering apartments across Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky, and the Paragon Patio, where residents connect. We’d love to talk with you on Facebook and Twitter!
This is a significant improvement over the originally proposed apartments.