“Shut The F**k Up”: When Phil Jackson Ruined Matt Damon’s Vibe For Rooting Against Kobe Bryant’s Lakers

In 2008, the NBA Finals saw the Boston Celtics take on the Los Angeles Lakers. It was a tense matchup and in Game 4 things got even more feisty. The “Zen Master”, Phil Jackson lost his cool. After all, the Lakers, led by Kobe Bryant had lost a 24-point lead to The C’s. But, it was neither the Lakers nor Kobe that he was mad at. It was Hollywood superstar Matt Damon that had him peeved.

The Lakers-Celtics rivalry is one with a lot of history. With 34 NBA Championships between them, they are the two most successful franchises in league history. And, while the height of the rivalry was in the 1980s, there has been no love lost between them in recent years.

By the time 2008 rolled around, it had been 21 years since the two had met in the Finals. Back then, it was Magic Johnson versus Larry Bird. This time around, it was Jackson and Bryant versus Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett. With the added bonus of two of the world’s biggest movie stars.

Matt Damon pissed off Phil Jackson during the 2008 NBA Finals

Having been born in the great state of Massachusetts, Matt Damon grew up loving everything related to Boston. An avid sports fan, it was written in the stars that he would be a fan of the Boston Celtics.

In fact, he is such a diehard fan of Gang Green, that the man shows no fear even when wearing a Celtics jersey among a sea of Lakers faithful. This happened to be the case during Game 4 of the 2008 NBA Finals. A Hollywood phenom, Damon was in attendance for the game along with his fellow Bostonian, Mark Wahlberg.

The majority of the game was quite one-sided, with the Lakers having a 24-point lead in the third quarter. But, The Truth, is Paul Pierce had other ideas, helping the Celtics go on a 21-3 run towards the end of the same. This forced Lakers head coach Phil Jackson to take a timeout. And, of course, both Damon and Wahlberg were hyped, cheering at the decision. This obviously annoyed Jackson, who, as Damon revealed on the Bill Simmons Podcast, proceeded to tell them to “Shut the f**k up!”.

“Phil’s calling a timeout because he’s got to stop the bleeding. And, Wahlberg and I are like, “Oh my God!”. And, as he calls the timeout, he just spins on us and goes, “Sit down and shut the f**k up!”. He was so mad. Which I get. Look. I can’t imagine if I’m having a bad day at work, and there are f***kin people cheering for my pain!”

It certainly must have been frustrating for the Zen Master. But, not as frustrating as the outcome of the series, which saw them lose the NBA Finals in six games.

The Boston Celtics went on to defeat Jackson’s Lakers and win the NBA Finals

Following Game 4, the Boston Celtics had a 3-1 lead over the Lakers. And, while Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson managed to pull one game back in Game 5, this did not change the result. After all, a Game 6 victory crowned the Celtics as the 2008 NBA Champions.

And, while the Lakers would get their revenge two years later. The 2008 result gave Celtics fans around the world, including Matt Damon so much joy.