Phil Jackson: Not Quite the Next Red Auerbach

Once again, Phil Jackson has failed to break his tie with Red Auerbach for the most NBA championships won by a head coach in league history. Is anyone surprised?

Despite Jackson's nine NBA titles, there is no doubt that he is not even in the same class as Auerbach, a fact that will not change even if Jackson does at some point earn his tenth title. Don't get me wrong; Jackson is a very talented basketball coach. Statistically, he is one of the best of all times, but his nine championships have more to do with the situations that he has put himself in than his actual coaching abilities.

Jackson's early championships in Chicago were his most impressive years. In the 1990-91 season, only Jackson's second as an NBA head coach, the Bulls set a franchise record for victories with 61 and they went on to win their first championship. The next two seasons resulted in championships as well, giving Jackson three rings in his first four seasons.

The next season, reality set in. With Michael Jordan retiring following the 1992-93 season, Jackson and the Bulls could not keep up their championship pace. In 1993-94, they were ousted from the playoffs by the New York Knicks. Jordan returned partway through the next season, but was still a bit rusty in the playoffs where the Bulls were derailed by the Orlando Magic.

The next season, Michael Jordan was back and better than ever leading Jackson and the Bulls to their fourth championship. Jordan led the Bulls to championships the next two seasons as well, giving Jackson six championships in his first nine seasons of coaching.

Many people gave Jackson an amazing amount of credit for his utilization of the "triangle offense" in Chicago and the results that it brought, but having the greatest player in NBA history on his team was undoubtedly what won those six championships for Jackson. During Jordan's absence from the game, the Bulls were not the same dominating force that they were throughout the nineties and even when Jordan was there, he had more of an affect on the game than Jackson's offensive schemes. Many close games were often decided in the fourth quarter when Jordan abandoned the triangle and took over the game himself.

Following the 1997-98 season, the Bulls were dismantled and Jackson's contract was not renewed. He temporarily left coaching.

Jackson returned to coaching in 1999-2000 as he signed with the Los Angeles Lakers, desiring to coach the game's most dominating player at the time, Shaquille O'Neal. With O'Neal and up and coming star Kobe Bryant on the team, Jackson quickly added three more championships to his tally. The third, however, has recently been marred by allegations that the officiating in the Western Conference Finals against the Sacramento Kings was influenced by the NBA office in an effort to increase ratings. Though there is no substantial evidence to these allegations at this time, there is no doubt that the officiating in the later games of that series did seem to favor the Lakers.

As tension grew in the Lakers' locker room, the Lakers lost in the 2002-03 playoffs to the San Antonio Spurs. The following season, with four future Hall of Famers on his team (O'Neal, Bryant, Karl Malone, and Gary Payton), Jackson was unable to lead the Lakers past the Detroit Pistons in the NBA Finals, most likely due to a lack of team unity. The Lakers did not renew Jackson's contract after that season due to tension between Jackson and Bryant (during the season Jackson had told the Lakers' GM that he would not coach the team again if Bryant returned). This was the second time in his career that a franchise decided to part ways with Jackson.

After a year away from the team, Jackson returned to coach the Lakers again. With Bryant establishing himself as the league's current best player, an aging O'Neal having been replaced by an athletic Lamar Odom, and the Lakers acquiring Pau Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies in the steal of the century, Jackson made his eleventh trip to the NBA Finals in the 2007-08 season. There, his team was convincingly beaten by a Boston Celtics team that was almost eliminated from the playoffs in both the first and second round in the inferior Eastern Conference.

Red Auerbach, on the other hand, at one point won eight titles in a row as a head coach and won nine in eleven years. He coached cohesive teams that did not need a dominating scorer to win championships as they relied on defense and teamwork. It was Auerbach who decided when it was time to step down as coach, but then stayed with the Celtics as a GM, president, and eventually vice-chairman, adding seven more titles to his basketball legacy. Auerbach made his name with the Celtics and kept his relationships positive. They never opted to part ways with him. Auerbach literally had to pass away for his employment with the Celtics to come to an end. It is fitting that it was the late Red Auerbach's Boston Celtics who prevented Phil Jackson from winning his tenth NBA championship.