When it comes to being a legend in terms of coaching in the NBA, not many come close to the level of Phil Jackson. He is the winningest coach in the history of the league, with 11 NBA Championships to his name.
Phil wouldn’t have achieved that without the help of some great players such as Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. One would assume that Phil must be in touch with his former player, but the 77-year-old revealed that’s not the case in a recent episode of ‘Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin.’
“I don’t. I’m not a phone guy. I kind of left guys alone and never kind of around on their case. When I get them on the court or get them in the film room or whatever, my office. I really liked to have conversations, I haven’t chased down any players.”
(Starts at 33:19)
Phil Jackson is old school, and one of the best examples of it is the fact that he doesn’t prefer using mobile phones.
Considering most people in the world right now are connected thanks to phones, it’s no surprise that Jackson has missed out on keeping in touch with his former players.
Phil Jackson Doesn’t Watch The NBA Anymore
Being a historical figure in the league’s history, most fans firmly believe that the ‘Zen Master’ must be an avid watcher of the NBA.
But in the same podcast, the former Bulls and Lakers coach revealed that he barely watches a single game every season. The reason? Well, Phil believes the league has become too political.
“I am not enjoying the game, that’s too bad. There’s a whole generation that doesn’t like the game. No, I don’t (watch basketball). I watched the game evolve, and then they went into the lockout year and did something that was kind wanky, they did a bubble down in Orlando. All the teams that could qualify went down there and stayed down there, no audience, and they have things on their back like ‘Justice’ and a funny thing happened like ‘Justice went to the basket and Equal Opportunity knocked him down’…
“Some of my grandkids thought it was pretty funny to play up those names, I couldn’t watch that. The Lakers won that year… They even had slogans on the floor and the baseline. It was trying to cater to an audience or trying to bring a certain audience to the game, and they didn’t know it was turning other people off. People want to see sports as non-political… Politics stays out of the game, it doesn’t need to be there.”
Politics should indeed stay out of sports. So, in a way, no one can blame Jackson for losing interest in the NBA.
But at the same time, many players and coaches want social causes to be highlighted through the league. Keeping that in mind, Phil and many others may stop watching NBA games, but it wouldn’t stop the league from raising political issues.
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