He is revered as a "Zen Master" because he has a very deep interest in Eastern philosophy, especially Zen Buddhism, because he applies the psychological adjustments of Zen Buddhism to the team. He is one of the greatest coaches in NBA history, winning 10 championship rings as a coach, surpassing "Cardinal" Auerbach's 9 to become the first of its kind. He is the third manager in history to lead two different teams to a championship and the only one to lead both teams to a three-game winning streak. His name is always associated with superstars, Jordan, Pippen, O'Neal and Kobe Bryant. This is Phil Jackson, a magical coach whose career achievements go far beyond those of a player.
In 1967, Phil Jackson was selected by the New York Knicks with the 17th pick in the second round, thus beginning an 11-year spell at the Knicks captain. Phil Jackson as a player was not very good, and as a big forward in the Knicks, the most noteworthy thing about him was that he won the championship with the Knicks in 1973, which was the only championship he won as a player.
In 1978, Jackson was traded to the New Jersey Nets and immediately served as assistant coach for the team. Phil Jackson officially retired in 1980, averaging a shabby 6.7 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. It is worth mentioning his playing career that Jackson at that time was one of the most active and open-minded players in the NBA, with long hair, thick and dense beard, and was known as a "make-up hippie".
The mediocrity of being a player does not hide his coaching talent. From 1982 he was the coach of the Albanian team in the CBA League for 5 years and in 1985 won the CBA Coach of the Year. In 1987, the NBA Bulls extended an invitation to him and began a two-year career as an assistant coach for the Bulls. Opportunities are always left to those who are prepared, and Phil Jackson prepares and seizes them. The Bulls head coach at the time was Doug Collins, a mediocre coach who was 14 points behind in the Bulls-Bucks game on December 17, 1988, collins was sent to the stands for shouting, and Phil Jack took over the command of the team. He loudly directed the players to defend and let go of the attack from the sidelines, and eventually helped the team stage a big reversal, and Jackson's coaching talent was revealed. Horace Grant later said of the match: "He lifted a cage that had trapped everyone for a long time and we were no longer nervous. ”
In the summer of 1989, the Bulls finally fired Collins and straightened out Phil Jackson. In his first season in charge, the Bulls changed immediately. Jordan and Pippen's role reversal allowed the Bulls to win 55 games in the 1989-1990 season, reaching the Eastern Conference Finals, where they lost seven games against the Pistons. This result is quite good for the coach who coached the NBA team in the first season. However, Phil Jackson has the ability to turn stones into gold, and he has been preaching the same thing that he has succeeded: a triangle offense, followed by the well-known Bulls' three-game winning streak. Highlighting Phil Jackson's coaching philosophy was the sixth game of the 1992 Finals with the Blazers, the Bulls trailed by 15 points before the fourth quarter, jackson sent a bunch of substitutes, seemingly to give up the game, but it was such a change that allowed the Bulls to reverse the defeat and stage a big reversal.
After his first triple crown, Jordan retired and the Bulls stopped in the Eastern Conference semifinals for two consecutive seasons, however, the 1995-1996 season became a bookworthy year in Phil Jackson's coaching career. In the 1995-1996 season, the Bulls recorded 72 wins and 10 losses, Jordan's comeback was naturally indispensable, and more importantly, Jackson successfully straightened out the relationship between "Big Bug" Rodman, who had a holiday with Pippen and the Bulls, and the team. Taming Rodman, Jackson won three more titles. After his first triple crown, Jordan retired and the Bulls stopped in the Eastern Conference semifinals for two consecutive seasons, however, the 1995-1996 season became a bookworthy year in Phil Jackson's coaching career. In the 1995-1996 season, the Bulls recorded 72 wins and 10 losses, Jordan's comeback was naturally indispensable, and more importantly, Jackson successfully straightened out the relationship between "Big Bug" Rodman, who had a holiday with Pippen and the Bulls, and the team. Taming Rodman, Jackson won three more titles.
When Jackson's coaching achievements reached its peak steadily, because of the contradictions with the Bulls management, he cunningly chose Ma Fangnanshan and vowed never to be a coach again. However, a year later, when the Lakers held O'Neill and Kobe Bryant to find Jackson, he immediately forgot his oath and went out to coach the Lakers. In the 1999-2000 season, the first season of coaching the Lakers, the "Zen Master" made a comeback and set off a bloody storm. He managed to stir up "the bloodiness of the big sharks, and the Lakers thundered down 67 wins." Kobe Bryant's maturity has caused constant internal contradictions among the Lakers, but Jackson still led such a mysterious Lakers to win three consecutive championships again, and had to admire the "Zen Master" to make the superstar surrender.
When the 2003-2004 season, Kobe Bryant's sex scandal, the sharks lost their bloodlust, F4 looked like a mystery, and the Lakers Lost to the Pistons in the Finals, Jackson once again cleverly chose to leave. Just a year later, in 2005, Jackson was on the bench again to coach the Lakers, hoping to win another championship and completely surpass The Cardinal Auerbach, who always looked down on him. In 2009, Phil Jackson finally did just that, taking his 10th championship ring. In 2010, he won the 11th championship ring of his coaching career, becoming the coach with the most NBA championship rings.
The most difficult thing in the world to manage is people, more difficult than people to manage is a group of people, basketball is a group of people to play the game. This is what Phil Jackson wrote in his autobiography, 11 Rings: The Autobiography of Zen Master Phil Jackson.
He made Jordan and Kobe Bryant, he created two generations of bulls and Lakers dynasties, and he is the unquestionable king of leadership. Unfortunately, people always like to compare Jordan and Kobe; Luckily, they were in different eras and both met Phil Jackson.