He is widely known for two his triangle offense ballplaying scheme as well as an holistic approach to coaching players, influenced by Eastern philosophy, notably Zen. A latter is the source of his sports media nickname: "The Zen Master".

Early Life and College

Jackson was raised around the nonindulgent Pentecostal home; both of his parents were ministers. Virtually all of his early childhood was spent inside Montana; his parents late moved a personal to Williston, North Dakota, where he attended high school & was the multi-sport star.

Jacksin went on to play basketball for the legendary Bill Fitch at the University of North Dakota. A Sextuplet'Octonary" Jackson's wingspan was so prodigous that Fitch would often have him show off to NBA scouts with something called "A Car Trick," in which Jackson would sit in middle of the back seat of a 1950's Buick and open both doors simultaneously!

New York Knicks

In 1967, he was drafted by the Knicks, and found that the skills that served him well at the small-college level were all but useless in the NBA. While he was a good all-around athlete, with unusually long arms, he was limited as a shooter, and did not have great speed. He compensated for his physical limitations by sheer intelligence and extremely hard work, especially on defense, and eventually established himself as a fan favorite and one of the NBA's leading substitutes. He was a key member of Knicks teams that won NBA titles in 1970 and 1973. Soon after the second title, several key starters of the championship teams retired, eventually forcing Jackson into the starting lineup, where his limitations were exposed. He retired from play in 1980.

Coaching

In the following years, he mainly coached in lower-level leagues, notably the Continental Basketball Association and the BSN of Puerto Rico. While in the CBA, he won his first coaching championship, leading the Albany Patroons to their first CBA title. He regularly sought an NBA job, but was invariably turned down; during his playing years, he had acquired a reputation for being sympathetic to the counterculture, which may have scared off potential NBA employers.

NBA Coaching

Jackson was the head coach of the NBA Chicago Bulls from 1989 to 1998, and of the Los Angeles Lakers from 1999 to 2004 and again from 2005 to present. Jackson has a total of 11 NBA championship rings: two as a player with the New York Knicks, six as coach of the Bulls, and three as coach of the Lakers. His nine NBA championships as a head coach ties him with Red Auerbach for the all-time lead in that category.

The Bulls

He finally earned an NBA job in 1987 as an assistant with the Bulls. Two years later, he would be elevated to the head coaching job, and the rest is history. In his nine years as Bulls coach, he won six championships, losing only in 1990 (his first season), and 1994 and 1995 (when Michael Jordan retired from basketball).

As time went by, the tension between Jackson and Bulls general manager Jerry Krause, who had originally hired him, grew ever more extreme. Some examples of the tension include:

During the summer of 1997, Krause's stepdaughter married. All of the Bulls assistant coaches and their wives were invited to the wedding, as was Tim Floyd, then the head coach at Iowa State, whom Krause was openly courting as Jackson's successor (and would eventually succeed Jackson). Jackson and his wife were not invited, and Krause did not tell them of the snub; they found out from the wife of assistant Bill Cartwright. During contract negotiations for Jackson's final year with the Bulls, when the topic of a potential extension past the 1997-98 season came up, Krause reportedly told Jackson, "I personally don't care if your family last 82-&-0, you're f------ no more."

After the Bulls' final title of the Jordan era in 1998, Jackson left the team. He took a year off before joining the Lakers.

The Lakers

Jackson took over a talented but underachieving Lakers team, and immediately produced results. In his first year in L.A., the Lakers went 67-15, and won the NBA championship. Titles in 2001 and 2002 followed, and many NBA observers believed that the Lakers were on the verge of becoming a dynasty. But injuries, weak bench play, and full-blown, public tension between Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal slowed the team down, however, and they were beaten in the 2003 playoffs Western Conference Finals by the San Antonio Spurs.

Following the 2002-03 season, the Lakers signed future Hall of Famers Karl Malone and Gary Payton, leading some to predict that the team would finish with the best record in NBA history. But from the first day of training camp, however, the Lakers were beset by distractions. Bryant's rape trial, public sniping between Shaq and Kobe, and repeated disputes between Jackson and Bryant all affected the team during the season. Despite these distractions, the Lakers advanced to the NBA Finals, and were heavy favorites. However, they were stunned by the Detroit Pistons, losing 4 games to 1. (It should be noted that Karl Malone, the Lakers' leading rebounder that season, was sidelined during most of the 2004 championship series due to an injury in game 2 of the series.)

On June 18, 2004, three days after suffering his first ever loss in an NBA finals series, the Lakers announced that Jackson would leave his position as Lakers coach. That fall, Jackson released The Last Season, a book which describes his point of view of the tensions that surrounded the 2003-2004 Lakers team. As the book was written in the immediate aftermath of that season, it does not necessarily reflect Jackson's opinions today. Without Jackson and O'Neal, the Lakers struggled mightily, going 34-48 in 2004-05. Jackson's successor as coach, Rudy Tomjanovich, resigned midway through the season, immediately leading to speculation that the Lakers might bring Jackson back. On June 15, 2005, The Lakers rehired Phil Jackson, after his one year off from coaching and from the NBA. His relationship with Bryant will be one of the most watched storylines in the NBA during the upcoming season

Jackson's main tactical contribution, both with the Bulls and with the Lakers, was the modernization of the triangle offense. He was also noted as a gifted handler of difficult players, notably Dennis Rodman.

Trivia

Phil Jackson is a recipient of the state of North Dakota's Roughrider Award.

Jackson is currently dating Jeannie Buss, the daughter of Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss.