Phil Jackson

Before the triangle offense, before the Chicago Bulls days, before Kobe and Shaq and 11 championships as a head coach, Phil Jackson was a long-limbed, stoop-shouldered forward out of the University of North Dakota drafted by the Knicks in 1967 who spent a decade becoming a Madison Square Garden cult figure. A gritty, cerebral reserve who rode his bicycle to home games and defended at a level that consistently outran his offensive numbers. On April 26, 1972, in a stunning 114-92 Game 1 victory at The Forum, an embarrassment of the 69-win Lakers on their own floor, Jackson scores 13 points as the Knicks open the series with the kind of suffocating team defense that was Red Holzman's signature. Though Los Angeles would take the series in five, New York returned the following year to win it all, with Jackson an active contributor on the 1973 championship squad, giving him two rings as a player before he ever drew up a play. The Hall of Famer would go on to coach 11 more. Jackson finished with 13 points.

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