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Rick Fox: But winning basketball games and winning at life? Those are two very different things. I spent 13 years in the NBA. Played for two of the most storied franchises in basketball, the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers. I was fortunate enough to play alongside Kobe and Shaq, be coached by Phil Jackson, and learn from some of the greatest basketball minds to ever walk into a gym. I’ve had a career in Hollywood. I’ve started businesses. I’ve made money. I’ve lost money. I’ve trusted the right people and the wrong people. I’ve been celebrated in rooms and questioned in those same rooms. And this year, I ran for political office in my home country, The Bahamas. I lost. Now, that’s an interesting experience for somebody who has spent most of his adult life being introduced as a three-time NBA champion.
Former NBA champion with the Boston Celtics, Brian Scalabrine has revealed that Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla has spent time with Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson this summer while appearing on The Starting Lineup show on SiriusXM NBA Radio. Scalabrine then talked about the advice that Jordan shared with Mazzulla in his hangouts with the two NBA legends. "He [Mazzulla] told them at the partners' summit that he actually hung out with Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson this summer. And Jordan told Joe that 'the reason why I kept winning was I acted like I never won,'" Scalabrine said. "If you act as if you've never done anything, then you are hungry to continue to get it. And he goes, Jordan was like that. That was his message to Joe."
The Los Angeles Lakers will honor Phil Jackson -- who won five of his unprecedented 11 NBA coaching titles in L.A. -- with a statue next season, the team announced Tuesday. "Phil Jackson defines championship basketball for a reason," Lakers acting governor Jeanie Buss said in a statement. "His masterful approach to coaching brought out the best in some of the greatest athletes to ever play the game. After he accepted my dad's invitation to join the Lakers, Phil's unmatched creativity and commitment to excellence restored our championship legacy, bringing five titles and setting a standard of excellence for generations to come. "It is a great joy to be able to mark that achievement with the statue he so richly deserves."
There may be no bigger fan of Scottie Barnes than Darko Rajakovic. The Toronto Raptors head coach recently sat down for an interview in his native Serbia, during which he likened the franchise star to one of the all-time greats. "I think there is no coach and there is no success for a coach without players," the bench boss — about to enter his fourth season holding the clipboard in Toronto — began explaining in Serbian. "You look at all our greatest coaches, who are fantastic ... they all became great coaches by taking care of the players, and I think that's on every level ... there's no Phil Jackson without Michael Jordan. My Michael Jordan is Scottie Barnes."
Dan Le Batard: "And the story I've told before of Pat Riley in a room having to wait to meet with LeBron, LeBron's what Phil Jackson would call LeBron's posse because this was a power game between the Phil Jacksons and Pat Rileys getting to control the sport and LeBron and his agent controlling the sport. In the room where he was recruiting them, he had to ask them to turn off the television because they were distracted while he was doing the recruiting. And all of that ended up being publicly humiliating because we have the pictures of Pat Riley and Andy Elisburg at a sad Las Vegas blackjack table waiting to meet with LeBron as everyone's wondering what he's going to do and Wade is flying all around him. It is amazing that we're doing this with the oldest player in the league all these years later."
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Vladimir Radmanovic on being recruited by the Lakers: ‘When I was a free agent deciding where to sign, my manager told me that three people were going to contact me: Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, and Phil Jackson. No matter how humble you try to be, it is incredibly flattering when those three individuals call you personally and tell you they want you in their organization. Vlade Divac acted as a mediator, likely sharing my phone number. I knew that joining the Lakers might not be the best option for my personal statistics or my minutes on the floor, but it was an experience I wouldn't trade for anything. Playing for the Lakers is something special in every sense: the constant media attention and the unique pressure are things very few other NBA teams ever experience. When Kobe calls and says, 'I want you here because we need your shooting to help us win,' it changes your perspective on team dynamics and individual sacrifice for the sake of a legacy.’
Vladimir Radmanovic on the Influence of Phil Jackson’s methods: ‘Phil Jackson was an incredibly interesting type of coach, unlike anyone else in the league. He had these methods—meditation, yoga, and turning off the lights in the locker room. He would tell us to close our eyes and 'think of nothing.' At the time, I was just starting to explore my faith more seriously, and I felt like meditating didn't really fit with my beliefs, so I’d just use the time to take a quick nap while he talked. But he was also brilliant with team psychology. During the playoffs, when we were watching film of our opponents, he would randomly insert clips from a movie. You’d be watching defensive rotations, and suddenly a scene from a random film would play. We’d all laugh, but it was his way of relaxing the team and breaking the tension. He had these 'special methods' to keep us from burning out mentally during the high-pressure environment of a championship run.’
"Could the Jordan rules work now in today's NBA, let's say against Wembanyama or SGA?" Isiah Thomas: "We actually see San Antonio doing that with SGA. Right now the new name for it is boxes and elbows. And where you see where SGA likes to shoot from mid-range, they have a double-team trap set up for him at the elbow. So if he goes right, he's forced into a double-team. If he goes left, he's forced into a double-team. On the backline, they keep Wembanyama as a rim protector. And then they have a smaller player in rotation shooting out to the corners. That's why you see those corner threes right now that OKC is knocking down. Those are the ones that they're giving up because they're taking the elbow shots or the mid-range shots away from SGA. So it's similar to what we did with Jordan. We would force Jordan left, trap him going left. SGA is more of a passer than Jordan was at that particular time. Jordan was what we called a reluctant passer. He would actually take on the double-team as a challenge and try to score over the double-team as opposed to kicking it out. And when Phil Jackson came along, put him in the triangle and put those snipers around him, that's when everything changed."
Austin Rivers: But if you want to talk about contributing players on championship runs, Hall of Fame help, when we talk about the Dennis Rodmans, Draymond Green's in that conversation. He is absolutely in that conversation and he has earned his right. But you don't ever see Dennis Rodman on a podcast talking about, ‘man, I should have shot the ball more. I don't know why they drew a place for Scottie Pippen. I don't get it. Phil Jackson hindered my career.’ Never. Never.
Austin Rivers: I didn't get in the league because of my dad. And I didn't stay in the league because of my dad. Now, do I get to be a part of a team and an opportunity with a with a staff that believed in me and a coach that I knew I could play freely for? Absolutely, man. That's why I came back. That's why when Portland offered me 40 million, that's why when Phil Jackson was trying to explain the goddamn Triangle offense in my living room, I didn't go to New York. I went back to LA to get that bag so I could go play for my pops and I could play freely and be myself, which I actually ended up doing pretty f*cking solid as a role player under Chris Paul and Jamal Crawford.
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Austin Rivers: I didn’t get in the league because of my dad, and I didn’t stay in the league because of my dad. Now, did I get to be a part of a team and an opportunity with a staff that believed in me, and a coach that I knew I could play freely for? Absolutely, man. That’s why I came back. That’s why, when Portland offered me $40 million, that’s why, when Phil Jackson was trying to explain the goddamn Triangle offense in my living room, I didn’t go to New York. I went back to L.A. to get that bag so I could go play for my pops, and I could play freely and be myself, which I actually ended up doing pretty solid as a role player under Chris Paul, Jamal Crawford. That’s what my role was. That’s all I ever was in the NBA: a role player. I was never a star.
Phil Jackson: 15 years I’ve been asking the NBA rules committee to widen the court apron. Corner shot b-comes 23.9”
15 years I’ve been asking the NBA rules committee to widen the court apron. Corner shot b-comes 23.9”
— Phil Jackson (@PhilJackson11) April 27, 2026
So what role did Phil Jackson play in your life on and off the court? Lamar Odom: “A teacher. We all go through school and go through academics. And I'm pretty sure you can remember who was your favorite teacher. I didn't have many. Growing up, you know what I mean? I didn't have many. I'm an eighth-grade dropout. I kind of quit school after my mother passed away when I was 12 years old. “I would say, Phil and Pat Riley. Probably my two favorites. My two favorite teachers and my basketball walk. I know the importance of every position on the court. And one of the reasons is because how I played the game, how I always saw the game.”