Phil Jackson, the co traversal former coach of the Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Lakers is coming under fire, for making a statement that many are saying shows potential racism.
Phil has come under fire in the past, for making racially insensitive comments about LeBron James and his business associates. Phil referred to LeBron’s business partners as his “posse.” The posse he was talking about, Media Take Out has learned, included Rich Paul – one of the top sports agents in the world.
Last year, Scottie Pippen, who played under Phil for years – referred to him as “racist.”
Yesterday, during an interview, Phil claims that he no longer watches the NBA, all because the league chose to show support for Black Lives Matter, a movement to stop Black people from being murdered by police around the United States.
According to Phil, supporting murder victims is “political” and should have no place in sports. As a protest, he’s no longer watching basketball.
Phil is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive. A power forward, Jackson played 12 seasons in the NBA, winning NBA championships with the New York Knicks in 1970 and 1973. Jackson was the head coach of the Chicago Bulls from 1989 to 1998, leading them to six NBA championships. He then coached the Los Angeles Lakers from 1999 to 2004 and again from 2005 to 2011; the team won five league titles under his leadership. Jackson’s 11 NBA titles as a coach surpassed the previous record of nine set by Red Auerbach.
Jackson is known for his use of Tex Winter’s triangle offense as well as a holistic approach to coaching that was influenced by Eastern philosophy, garnering him the nickname “Zen Master”. Jackson cited Robert Pirsig’s book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance as one of the major guiding forces in his life. He also applied Native American spiritual practices as documented in his book Sacred Hoops. He is the author of several candid books about his teams and his basketball strategies. In 2007, Jackson was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
In 1996, as part of celebrations for the NBA’s 50th anniversary, Jackson was named one of the 10 greatest coaches in league history.