King Phil?

Another NBA season has produced yet another NBA title for Phil Jackson. Say what you want about the Zen Master, but you can't deny his coaching prowess.

Jackson has recently cemented himself as the winningest coach in American sports. His critics will use three words to minimize his accomplishments: Jordan, Shaq, & Kobe.

Kobe is excused from any further comparison, as his 4 titles have come under the Big Hippie's guidance. The results experienced by Shaq and MJ with and without Phil are vastly different.

You can't deny the supreme talents of the two players. Instead, it's easy point to what happened when a supreme coaching mind in Jackson was able to join forces with two dominant players: dynasty level success.

Let's take a look:

Jordan without Phil
279-295 .486 (0 Championships)

Jordan with Phil
443-131 .771 ( 6 Championships)

Shaq without Phil
478-341 .583 (1 Championship)

Shaq with Phil
435-189 .697 (3 Championships)


Actions speak louder than words, and in sports, winning speaks louder than anything. Phil Jackson has won with three teams with distinct personnel. The Bulls of the late 90s, Shaq & Kobe's Lakers, and now Kobe's (singular) Lakers all believed they could do what needed to be done to stand alone at the end of the NBA season: win.


Phil Jackson is no Bob Knight, but he's no Dick Vermeil either. He isn't a screamer or a crier, but instead is the ultimate thinker. This basketball intellectual just happens to have 10 championships, the most in NBA history.