Phil Jackson

The generation that grew up watching Phil Jackson stalk the sideline in Chicago and Los Angeles, clipboard in hand, triangle offense humming, may be surprised to learn that long before any of it, he was on the other side of the baseline with a jersey and a number. Jackson was drafted by the New York Knicks in the second round of the 1967 Draft out of North Dakota, where he had averaged 27.4 points per game as a senior and earned All-American honors. He arrived in New York with long hair, a bicycle for his commute to the Garden, and a defensive instinct that would shape how he thought about basketball for the next five decades. Though a spinal fusion surgery cost him the 1969-70 season, he was a valued reserve on the 1973 championship squad that avenged this very series the following year, earning his second ring as a player. On April 26, 1972, in one of the great upsets in Finals history, the Knicks travel to Inglewood and dismantle the 69-win Lakers 114-92 in Game 1, with Jackson contributing 13 points in a game defined by the team defensive system he would later build his entire coaching philosophy around. It is impossible to understand what made Phil Jackson the greatest championship coach in the history of professional basketball - 11 titles and two three-peats - without first understanding that he was a student of winning before he was ever its architect. Jackson finished with 13 points.

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