“Okay, thanks!”: How Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson reached an agreement when Zen Master spoke to His Airness 1-on-1 for the first time

Getting through to the ego of Michael Jordan seems like a Herculean task. But Phil Jackson was able to manage it with the right tweaks.

There can be no doubt about the credentials of either Phil Jackson or Michael Jordan. Both of them were proven winners during their heyday, on and off the court.

Phil Jackson is a man who comes from Montana, and is steeped in its rich country traditions. As a result, his work ethic and the way he views people and life are vastly different from other people. His holistic views to life aren’t to everyone’s tastes, to be sure.

Michael Jordan, who’s from more of a regulation background, found himself under the spell of the Zen Master soon enough. But for Phil to get through to His Airness, there needed to be one icebreaker between the two.

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How Phil Jackson broke the ice between him and Michael Jordan

Understanding that MJ’s ego would prevent him from taking anyone seriously at first glance, Jackson chose to maintain his distance from his franchise superstar during his initial period in Chicago.

Phil would look aloof, seemingly taking notes as he hatched plans to get the Bulls their first pieces of silverware. And he devised an ingeniously simple way to get to MJ – doing so over a month after he joined as the assistant coach under Doug Collins.

As described in Eleven Rings, Phil chose an appropriate moment to ‘corner’ Michael Jordan at the Bulls’ media room. He quoted Red Holzman – once voted into the Top 10 Coaches in NBA history – hoping that he could get past the stiff interior of the walking legend.

In Phil’s words, MJ took him seemingly at face value, nodded, said ‘Okay, thanks’ and walked away.

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This encounter would play a pivotal role as Phil gained the confidence of Michael in the time to come. And as we all know, the very best results followed as the Chicago Bulls won 6 championships under the spell of the Zen Master.

Jackson and MJ shared a bond that perhaps very few coaches in world sports will ever emulate. And it was only possible because both sides had empathy for each other.