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“Superteam failures make us appreciate Phil Jackson more”: NBA Reddit pays its respect to former Bulls, Lakers coach for keeping it together while coaching the likes of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant

Akash Murty
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"Superteam failures make us appreciate Phil Jackson more": NBA Reddit pays its respect to former Bulls, Lakers coach for keeping it together while coaching the likes of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant

Phil Jackson made coaching a superteam look much easier than it was by leading Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant led teams to several championships.

We have heard the term Superteams in the last decade more than we ever did. That’s because there’s been more of them from 2010 to 2019 than in any other era. Still, if you look back in time, there were many others dating back to 1968 when Wilt Chamberlain joined forces with Jerry West and Gail Goodrich in LA.

There were many other solid teams in the following decades which were a team with multiple superstars, like the Boston Celtics and the Showtime Lakers in the 80s, but they drafted most of their players who later became superstars. So, calling them a Superteam would be unfair.

Also read: “No question that I would take LeBron James over Michael Jordan!”: When ‘Bad Boy’ Pistons legend, Bill Laimbeer firmly picks Lakers star over Bulls #23

The Chicago Bulls team that won 3-championships from 1991-93 was also centered around Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen both of whom were the club-grown players. But the Bulls built after Jordan’s comeback to the game in 1995, by adding Dennis Rodman was the start of a wave of multi-starer teams.

It also irked the Houston Rockets a year later to form a Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley, and Clyde Drexler team which should have but didn’t win anything. They didn’t even win when they added Pippen after Jordan retired for the second time.

Winning with a superteam is really a much tougher ask than it sounds, and coaching that team might just be one of the toughest jobs out there. We can see how several superteams have failed since the 2000s and the ones which did succeed like the Miami Heat (2010-14) and Golden State Warriors (2016-19) and now the Brooklyn Nets. Thanks to a Redditor for getting our attention to it.

The emergence of Phil Jackson, who would lead superteams to a record 6 championships, starting with the 1996 Bulls

Phil Jackson always looked like he was built for tough jobs. Not being judgmental here, but the man was part of the team that snatched the Championship from the first superteam in LA we just talked about.

As he turned to coach, he got his first job while playing for the New Jersey Nets. A year after retirement as a player and being a full-time assistant coach, Phil left the country to coach overseas teams for 6-years and came back in 1987 to join the Chicago Bulls as an assistant.

He took over the lead charge 2-years later and what followed, changed the Bulls franchise and maybe Basketball forever. Jackson not only helped Michael Jordan reach his first-ever just a year after taking the HC role, but he also led them to the championship.

Not just one, but 3-straight championships from 1991-93. After that, MJ retired.

Also read: “The next 2Ks are 2k23 and 2k24!”: Fans speculate whether Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant should be on the covers of the next NBA 2Ks

While they looked to replace him, the future GOAT returned to action just a month before the 1995 Playoffs. Although they wouldn’t do anything big in that postseason, Phil would get his first Superteam when they would acquire Dennis Rodman from the San Antonio Spurs in the off-season.

With a team full of different kind of egos Jackson squeezed 3 more Championships in the next three years, all of which is well documented in the Last Dance.

Phil Jackson’s success in leading his second and third Superteam with Kobe Bryant

As that Bulls team dissolved following Jordan’s second retirement, Jackson joined a Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal led Los Angeles Lakers. That was a whole different level of ego clash as everyone came to know later.

He led them to 3-straight championships as well, winning his 9th title in 2002.

Phil took a break after the great Lakers duo broke up and later came back to win another 2 Championships with Kobe and Pau Gasol starer the Lakers, becoming the most decorated coach in NBA history.

Also read: “Would’ve tried to work things with Shaquille O’Neal and keep him with the Lakers!”: When Kobe Bryant talked about how he would’ve handled the situation with Shaq before the Heat trade

Jackson was the coach who could manage the biggest of egos quite the best, hence being the only coach who won 6 Championships with Superteams. None other has won more than 2 with most not even winning once.

What’s an even bigger thing to notice is that neither MJ nor Kobe won a single championship without Phil Jackson, making it clear how important was he to all the success those star-studded teams had.

About the author

Akash Murty

Akash Murty

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An Electrical and Electronics Engineer by degree, Akash Murty is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. Previously a Software Engineer, Murty couldn’t keep himself away from sports, and his knack for writing and putting his opinion forward brought him to the TSR. A big Soccer enthusiast, his interest in basketball developed late, as he got access to a hoop for the first time at 17. Following this, he started watching basketball at the 2012 Olympics, which transitioned to NBA, and he became a fan of the game as he watched LeBron James dominate the league. Him being an avid learner of the game and ritually following the league for around a decade, he now writes articles ranging from throwbacks, and live game reports, to gossip. LA Lakers are his favourite basketball team, while Chelsea has his heart in football. He also likes travelling, reading fiction, and sometimes cooking.

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