Jackson, Phil (1945-…), ranks among the most successful coaches in the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Jackson coached the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships—three of them from the 1990-1991 season through the 1992-1993 season and three more from 1995-1996 through 1997-1998. He also coached the Los Angeles Lakers teams that won NBA championships in 1999-2000, 2000-2001, 2001-2002, 2008-2009, and 2009-2010. Jackson’s 11 championships are more than any other coach in NBA history. He also holds the NBA coaching record for most career play-off victories.
Philip Douglas Jackson was born on Sept. 17, 1945, in Deer Lodge, Montana. He starred in basketball for three years at the University of North Dakota, from 1964 through 1967. The New York Knicks of the NBA selected Jackson as the 17th player in the 1967 NBA draft. Jackson, a forward, played with the Knicks for 10 seasons through 1977-1978, sitting out one year when he was injured. He was a member of the NBA champion Knicks team of 1972-1973. The Knicks traded Jackson to the New Jersey (now Brooklyn) Nets in 1978, and he retired as a player in 1980. He was an assistant coach while a player for the Nets.
Jackson began his head coaching career in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) in 1982. He coached Albany in the CBA for five seasons before becoming an assistant coach of the Chicago Bulls in 1987. He became head coach of the Bulls in 1989. The 1995-1996 Bulls team won a record 72 games and lost only 10 during the regular season. Jackson was named NBA Coach of the Year that season. The Bulls championship teams featured such stars as Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman. Jackson retired from coaching for a season and then coached the Lakers from 1999 to 2004. With the Lakers, Jackson coached such stars as Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant.
After sitting out for a season, Jackson returned to coach the Lakers in 2005. He was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007. Following the end of the 2010-2011 season, Jackson announced his retirement from coaching. He served as president of basketball operations for the New York Knicks from 2014 to 2017. Jackson’s diary of his 2003-2004 season with the Lakers was published as The Last Season: A Team in Search of Its Soul (2004). His autobiography, Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success, was published in 2013.
