Jeff Van Gundy was one of the coaches, who tried to stop Phil Jackson’s reign during the 1990s and the 2000s. The former Knicks coach talked about the success that Jackson had with the Bulls and the Lakers winning 11 NBA titles.
“Phil Jackson, yes, he was blessed with some enormously talented teams in his day, and he came through,” Van Gundy said on Sports Illustrated.
“Every time he got to the Finals in Chicago, he won it. When he got there with L.A., he won it every time except twice, [against] the Celtics and the Pistons. My point is, he came through, and that’s hard to do. Yes, he coached Jordan and [Kobe] Bryant and [Shaquille] O’Neal, three of the top-10 players to ever play this game, but it’s one thing to have great players. It’s another thing to win when you have great players.
When you’re a coach, we’re always watching other coaches, and I thought what he did so well was the way he paced his teams incredibly well, both physically and mentally, to play very good basketball in the playoffs.”
Van Gundy was one of the most prolific rivals of Phil Jackson during the 1990s and the 2000s being the coach of the New York Knicks in the 90s and the Houston Rockets later in the 2000s.
