In the eyes of many, Phil Jackson is the greatest NBA coach of all-time. After winning six NBA Championships with the Chicago Bulls, Jackson would come to the Los Angeles Lakers for two different stints and win another five rings.
What made Jackson so special as a coach was his ability to connect with players on a level higher than just basketball and really get the best out of them. He wanted the team to be like a family, which fit right into what the Lakers are about with the late, great Dr. Jerry Buss at the head of that and his daughter Jeanie Buss in control now.
Jeanie, of course, dated Jackson for a long period of time as well and in that time was able to learn a lot from him. On a recent episode of NBA DNA with Hannah Storm, she recalled an argument with Jackson over the team practicing on a holiday and how he explained it to her as helping to build that family dynamic within the Lakers:
“I saw it on the other side when I dated Phil [Jackson] for 15 years and so when I was his significant other I learned how to look at the team through the lens of a coach. And I remember getting in a fight with him because he was bringing the team in on Thanksgiving to practice. And I’m like ‘why are you doing this? Give them one day off.’ He’s like settle down, he said, ‘Jeanie, what I’m trying to show them by having them practice on Thanksgiving, I want to establish that this is their family as well. And you have to be with your family on a holiday.’ And that’s powerful. When a coach can harness that and create that family dynamic then you know you have something really special.”
Building that chemistry and camaraderie within the team is of the utmost importance and it is why Jackson was so successful. A team simply can’t win at the highest level without truly coming together and while Jackson’s ways were different, no one can argue they weren’t effective with both the Lakers and Bulls.
It was an enlightening moment for Jeanie as she was able to see something from a different view point and it is clearly something she remembers to this day.
Jeanie Buss on how Lakers can silence critics
Of course Jeanie Buss is hoping this current Lakers team is able to build up that level of chemistry as well, and she knows the only way to silence critics is for the team to go out and win.
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