O’Neal also participated in pregame meditations led by former Los Angeles Lakers head coach Phil Jackson, who would tell players to close their eyes and think about being in the championship parade, or being down one or two points and overcoming their fears. “He brought in sage,” O’Neal says. There may have been a method to the madness, too. During Jackson’s 20 seasons as an NBA head coach, he won a record 11 championships, including three with O’Neal during their five seasons together. “He always told us to go to our happy place,” O’Neal says.
Phil Jackson Rumors
That 2002 Western Conference finals series was as close as it gets between two teams, right? Chris Webber: I’m not ashamed of losing to L.A. I know we did everything we could, and I’m appreciative as an athlete to have prepared myself for the moment. They had two Hall of Famers, Big Shot Bob (Robert Horry) and a Hall of Fame coach (Phil Jackson) who coached Jordan, and they barely could get by us. In a day that the league didn’t want small teams to win. Whatever it is, I’m proud that I battled and that the team that we lost to still has our scars at least in some areas because of my presence. Sports has no guarantees. I’m proud to battle with Doug Christie, Mike Bibby, Peja, Vlade, Bobby Jackson. I’m proud that I can look them in the eye because we gave our best effort.
Anthony guested in a recent episode of ALL THE SMOKE where he expressed his dismay over the Zen Master’s handling of things with the Knicks. “When Phil came, he was just like, he cut that line of communication off me from the Front Office, from the staff members, even players! You know what I’m saying?” Anthony said on All The Smoke. “The minute that I knew that was the game that was being played, like Nah!”
Phil Jackson and Carmelo Anthony’s working relationship was so bad the former chastised the latter several times in public. For Anthony, all these have made him close the door—at least for now—on the idea of patching things up with Jackson. “Nah! I mean, I don’t need closure. … I know if I had a sit-down with you, you wouldn’t say that. You would say something totally different. You’re gonna tell me something like oh it wasn’t like that. I ain’t really got time for that. I don’t need it at this point.”
The star-studded series also features rare interviews with Jordan and Pippen about Longley as well as the towering Australian’s former Bulls teammate Steve Kerr and coach Phil Jackson. Longley has, until now, declined to comment publicly on The Last Dance, which detailed Jordan’s influence on the all-conquering Bulls team and the brash operation run by then-general manager Jerry Krause.
If the Knicks lose Bullock, they’d be more likely to attempt to match a modest offer to guard Frank Ntilikina, a restricted free agent. According to a league source, the Knicks haven’t ruled out bringing back their 2017 lottery pick selected by Phil Jackson, even if Thibodeau barely played him last season.
On today’s episode of “The Dan Patrick Show,” six-time NBA champion Scottie Pippen turned heads by criticizing his former Chicago Bulls head coach, Phil Jackson, and describing him as a racist. In a recent GQ interview, Pippen said that Jackson’s decision to give Toni Kukoc the final shot in a 1994 playoff game was “a racial move to give [Kukoc] a rise.” When Dan Patrick said that this comment makes it seem like Jackson is a racist, the seven-time All-Star agreed with that characterization.
