The Zen Master thinks the NBA should embrace the Holy Trinity, and he’s not talking about the triangle offense.
Phil Jackson, who famously won 11 league titles as a head coach and another two as a player, called out the league online for scheduling playoff games on Easter Sunday.
‘Again the NBA tests faith by playing multiple games on Christmas and Easter…sacred days,’ the 79-year-old wrote in a rare post on X.
The post was just Jackson’s third since 2018, but nonetheless went viral amid a sea of criticism.
‘WrestleMania, MLB, NHL, UFL, PGA Tour, College Softball, College Baseball, Premier League, etc but go on,’ one fan wrote on X, naming every other sports property that was active on Sunday.
‘Not everyone is christian or catholic, phil,’ another responded.
The son of ministers, Phil Jackson is criticizing the NBA for playing on Christian holidays
Phil Jackson, who famously won 11 league titles as a head coach and another two as a player, called out the league online for scheduling playoff games on Easter Sunday
One person simply wrote that Jackson had a ‘stupid take,’ while many others reminded the former Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers coach that both Christmas and Easter have links to pagan holidays that predate the birth of Christ.
But Jackson did have his defenders as well.
‘I like this guy now more than ever,’ one person wrote.
‘Well said, sir,’ another added.
One person asked an intriguing question: ‘When did Phil become a hardcore Christian?’
Known to be interested in Eastern philosophies and Native American traditions, Jackson is the son of Assemblies of God ministers and once thought he, too, would go into the ministry.
Ultimately he was discovered by North Dakota head coach Bill Fitch, who would go on to coach the Boston Celtics to an NBA title in 1981, and later became a second-round pick of the New York Knicks in the 1967 draft. Jackson would go on to win two NBA titles in New York while developing a reputation as one of the league’s free spirits.
Giannis Antetokounmpo prays before Saturday’s playoff opener against the Indiana Pacers
Jackson was known for being spiritual during his decades playing and coaching in the NBA
As a coach, he famously guided the Michael Jordan-era Chicago Bulls to six NBA titles before winning another five with Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Along the way, Jackson earned the nickname the ‘Zen Master’ while occasionally offering some criticism of organized religion.
As he told the Chicago Tribune in 1990: ‘I’ve always liked the concept of God being beyond anything that the human mind can conceive. I think there is a pantheistic-deistic-American Indian combination religion out there for Americans. That rings true to me.’
Jackson has been out of the spotlight in recent years after his doomed stint as New York Knicks president ended in 2017. Since then, his ex-fiancée and current Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss has married comedian and actor Jay Mohr.
The NBA is unlikely to change its schedule to accommodate for holidays, particularly because they’re some of the league’s biggest moneymakers. An average of 5 million viewers tuned in to NBA games on Christmas, which marked an 84-percent increase from 2023.