Phil Jackson is one of the more decorated personalities in the NBA. The former Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers head coach has the distinction of being the only coach in league history to win 11 Championships, surpassing Red Auerbach.
This had fans debating on Reddit whether Jackson’s impressive feat could ever be broken. In the current crop of coaches, only San Antonio Spurs’ Gregg Popovich and Golden State Warriors’ Steve Kerr are on the list with five and four titles, respectively.
Please note that some of the comments from the discussion forum have been edited for clarity.
“Craziest thing is, nine of his coaching rings came via 3 peats…three 3 peats and almost did for a 4th time for the Kobe/Pau rings, one of the fans opined. This was seconded by another who said, “He also made it to the finals 2 additional times and didn’t win. Was in a position to get more than 11. Absolutely unreal!”
“It’s hard either way. Take Doc Rivers for example. Recognized as a top 15 coach of all time, 20-year career as Head coach, had multiple great teams, 1 championship,” a comment read.
Praise wasn’t far off. “Show me any coach that could manage MJ, Pippen, Grant, Rodman, Shaq, Kobe, and Ron Artest and more divas and egos to 11 rings,” a fan remarked. “Kerr could do it if you consider player + coach rings,” one wrote.
Another fan backed Kerr to surpass Jackson. “Kerr has 5 as a player, 4 as a coach so 4 to match but yeah that’s a lot,” the comment read. “To be fair, I don’t think Kerr stays beyond curry’s retirement on the warriors, he could end up elsewhere on a dynasty if he gets lucky like Jackson AND he wants to (instead of retiring).
Jackson had an impressive resume as a coach. In his 20-year stint, he coached 1,640 games, winning 1,155 of them. He won the NBA championships with the Bulls in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, and 1998. He later had similar success with the Lakers in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, and 2010.
Kerr, who played under Jackson, won three rings with the Bulls and two with the Spurs as a player. As head coach, he won four titles with the Warriors in 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2022.
Kobe Bryant Once Revealed How Phil Jackson Successfully Managed Him And Shaquille O’Neal
Managing two alphas in the team can be a daunting task, but Phil Jackson seemed to be able to handle Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal perfectly.
It’s not news that both the superstars had massive egos, and that meant managing them on and off the court would be a challenge in itself. Bryant once revealed the coach dealt with the duo.
“He (Phil Jackson) would see the friction between myself and Shaquille and say, ‘Okay how can I use that?” Bryant said in one of his interviews.
The Black Mamba noted that Jackson was aware of his passion irrespective of his mindset, while Shaq was a lot more emotional.
“So therefore, I got to figure out how to create a wedge between myself and Kobe because then that brings me closer to Shaquille, and then that helps me better manage Shaq.’ So, that was his ability to manage the team, which was absolutely brilliant,” Bryant said.
This is pure genius from Jackson. And while it may not have made things easier for the trio, they managed to work it out, and that translated to a historic three-peat from 2000 to 2002. Can Kerr now get closer to the mark or even surpass Jackson? Only time will tell.
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