Is Phil Jackson the best NBA coach of all time?

[Charzr]

Just wanted to throw this out guys. Is Phil Jackson the best NBA coach of all time?

Hit the comments if you think somebody else was or is better that Phil? Or if you think he is the best one you are welcome to defend him.
:call:

 

[jho]

I think he had one of the best situations of all time. No offense to him, but no coach can win without great players, and that is obvious. The bigger question imo is how much of an influence and help he was to MJ and Shaq and Kobe on their way to titles. I think all of those athletes would have won titles regardless of who their coaches were, and it is debatable whether another coach could have done a better job with Shaq and Kobe (and some of the bad showings the Lakers had with Kobe and Jackson at the helm).

Still he did a great job managing the players, and I don't want to take that away from him. So my vote is maybe he's the best.

 

[robert_wrath]

It takes genius to assemble a great cast of players. You can have a phenomenal team but without strong leadership, they're dead in the water.

 

[Charzr]

That's right, through the Years we've seen a lot of superstars with great teams but no rings. Playoffs game most of the time are close, and it comes to the final minute needing a design play from the coach. Or helping players that are above average play like superstars.

The guy had SUPERSTARS all the time, but when you have this kinds of Stars, SUPEREGOS come to place and you have to know how to handle them.

Other thing that comes to mind are teams like Utah with Karl Malone and John Stockton, Charles Barkley with the Suns, Lebron with the Cavs. Superstars, great teams no rings. And I'll go a little farther and put the Boston Celtics in the mix, after the first year of the "Big Three" or Four [Depending how you look at it] we thought they were going to have multiple championships, that didn't happen; I would never blame the coach for that, but sometimes superstars won't get you a automatic ring, people tend to overlooked the coach and the bench players when you win.

 

[rounder22]

Phil is the best because of his management of huge egos of superstar players and getting players to play together when they didn't like each other. He also was great at using the triangle offense.

 

[jho]

I understand the team/superstar argument, but I think it's fact that none of those players were at the stature of Jordan (and in fact Jordan was the one who stopped a bunch of great players from his generation from getting rings).

As for Lebron he never had a "team" in CLE, it was one superstar with role players, and you can see that from how much CLE has sucked this year.

As for Boston they came together as an OLD group. I definitely think they could have won multiple titles if they came together younger.

Which is what I believe (sadly) will happen for the Heat. Would that do anything to debunk the great coach theory or would it lead you to believe that Spoelstra is a great coach? I dunno about that (but definitely too early to start talking about this - let's see them win a bunch of titles first).

 

[Charzr]

Touché Jho, you had to bring up Spoelstra.... funny huh? How last 2 years he was a great coach in the making because he got the Heat into the Playoffs with an ailing Wade and a lot of role players. Now he is ..... "always lost", "can't coach this team", "let see how he reacts in the playoffs", "a snitch because he was the one that brought up the "crying thing""

 

[Exit141RTe1]

Awesome coach with the absolute respect of his players.

The best coaching big, big egos.

 

[jho]

Awesome coach with the absolute respect of his players.

The best coaching big, big egos.

This I can absolutely agree with. Not just any coach could get those teams he coached to come together like he did.

But even with him at the helm there were some hiccups along the way, but I think Jackson did a masterful job.

 

[TardisBlue]

Jackson is a good coach, but he always had star studded teams to work with.

I'll take Jerry Sloan. He lost two HOF players at once (Stockton & Malone), but the Jazz only missed the playoffs once in the eight years afterwards. That is pretty impressive.

 

[jho]

Jackson is a good coach, but he always had star studded teams to work with.

I'll take Jerry Sloan. He lost two HOF players at once (Stockton & Malone), but the Jazz only missed the playoffs once in the eight years afterwards. That is pretty impressive.

Yea he did a solid job, but maybe he was also the best fit as a coach in that system? Who knows how he would do handling alpha stars who are more troublesome (Deron Williams?)

 

[mdnmdn]

I vote no, not of all times.

 

[coolnout]

best coach of the modern era for sure.

 

[marvingubba]

I vote no, not of all times.

So mdnmdn, who does get your vote?

 

[AUPhoenix]

Red Auberbach (sp) of the Boston Celtics is the best coach of all times. Hand down.

 

[Charzr]

Red Auberbach (sp) of the Boston Celtics is the best coach of all times. Hand down.

He was a great coach and a better GM, and get extra points for the cigars

 

[ballers101]

best coach of the modern era for sure.

I disagree, Greg Popavich in my opinion is better than Phil Jackson. Pops has made due with good players around his star Tim Duncan. Duncan was never looked as a superstar like Lebron or Wade or Kobe or Shaq. Even though Duncan was one of the most dominant players of our era and is IMO, the best PF of all time. Still highly underrated. He didn't have great players, he had good ones and knew how to bring players in and get them into their rotations to win titles. Pops had some of the greatest teams in history. I mean he's had the best, you can't go wrong when you have the best. People are jumping up and down screaming "Miami lost! And they had a horrible coach." At the end of the day, the coach didn't have to play the game, it's the players who have to perform. Lebron choked but they still made it to the finals in their first year. I totally see them winning 2-3 straight, no thanks to Eric Spolestra. And once they win, people will see that coaches generally don't make that gigantic difference that we make them out to. Still, Popavich had a good way of thinking and was able to win without 5 HOFs on his team, only 1. FTR, Jordan, Pippen, Shaq, Kobe and Gasol (should be) are now and future hall of famers.

 

[Peteyweestro]

I bleed purple & yellow, thats to say i am a die hard through & through Laker fan and i only picked "maybe". I said maybe because Phil didn't really coach in the normal sense of the word.He managed ego's and he taught the players how to handle adversity and things like that better then anyone ever has as a coach, but as far as coaching, on the floor, managing time outs and using momentum shifts etc, you know, things all coaches do but not Phil, he basicaly would sit there and let the players work it out themselves, or as he said work through it.That to me is not coaching, so he was the greatest coach at the mental part of the game but the actual physical and strategies i don't think he is more then a top ten coach. Go Lakers in 2012!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[ballers101]

I bleed purple & yellow, thats to say i am a die hard through & through Laker fan and i only picked "maybe". I said maybe because Phil didn't really coach in the normal sense of the word.He managed ego's and he taught the players how to handle adversity and things like that better then anyone ever has as a coach, but as far as coaching, on the floor, managing time outs and using momentum shifts etc, you know, things all coaches do but not Phil, he basicaly would sit there and let the players work it out themselves, or as he said work through it.That to me is not coaching, so he was the greatest coach at the mental part of the game but the actual physical and strategies i don't think he is more then a top ten coach. Go Lakers in 2012!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lakers are so losing it in 2012

Heat are taking it 100% next year.

 

[gregnice]

yes.

 

[Charzr]

The only reason Heat will win it all in 2011-2012..... because nobody else will be playing this year in the NBA.

 

[jho]

i think the lakers are done...their core is only getting older, i don't think kobe and gasol and company can do enough to thwart miami or okc.

 

[Charzr]

Yes, they are getting older and Yes, they will miss Phil, and Yes they will have trouble competing in the West if they don't trade for Howard or someone like that.

But Miami and OKC, come jho... Those teams beat themselves.... speaking of Choke Artist did you see Lebrick in China?