If becoming a great NBA coach only required exceptional knowledge of the game, there would be so many capable candidates. The path to succeed as a coach in the NBA, however, isn’t as linear as people may think. So many elements outside of basketball are imperative to assuring success. One of the best of all time, Phil Jackson, understood this.
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Jackson didn’t earn the nickname ‘Zen Master’ strictly for his outstanding coaching schemes. The 11-time NBA champion had a great passion for the game, but understood the value of maintaining a balanced mind. Jackson’s way of accomplishing that came in the form of meditation. He didn’t just keep those practices to himself, but shared them with his players.
Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, who played under Jackson, took little time to realize just how great a coach he was.
“The first time you meditate with the Bulls back then, the new guy always opens his eyes like, ‘What’s going on?'” Kerr said on the Glue Guys Podcast. “Everybody else settles in, and the light dims down. The new guys are like, ‘Really? We’re doing this?'”
Playing under Jackson was unlike anything Kerr experienced up to that point. The Bulls‘ head coach’s admiration for meditation derived from his appreciation of Native American culture, which was evident through his coaching style.
“Where we would watch film every day was adorned with Native American art and history. He referred to us as his tribe. We’d all be shooting around pre-practice. He’d come out onto the balcony and bang his drum, and that was our signal to come up and watch tape,” Kerr revealed.
These methods might seem a bit unnecessary to the average person, but after some time, each player on the roster accepted it as normal. It clearly worked as the Bulls went on to win six NBA championships during the 1990s, all under Jackson’s tutelage.
When looking back at the coach that Jackson was, Kerr has one key assessment of his skills. “He was ahead of his time for sure,” Kerr said.
Fast forward a few years, and Kerr followed in Jackson’s footsteps to become a coach himself. He may not follow the exact same methods that incorporate Native American references, but he has drawn inspiration to craft his identity as a coach. It has proven to be quite successful, as Kerr has won four NBA titles as the coach of the Golden State Warriors.
Hopefully, the way Kerr speaks of Jackson, someone else will speak of Kerr in that same light. Greatness influences greatness, and Kerr is very well on the path to continuing the cycle.
