Getty ImagesORLANDO, Fla. - Move over, Red Auerbach. Phil Jackson is now No. 1.
Jackson, the chilled-out, bow-legged Zen Master who won six league titles in the 1990s with Michael Jordan in Chicago, now has won his fourth with the Los Angeles Lakers and broke a tie with legendary Boston coach Red Auerbach as the winningest coach in finals history.
Jackson’s record-breaking triumph came in a relatively easy 99-86 Lakers victory over Orlando, a team that had beaten L.A. twice in the regular season but fell in five games in the NBA Finals.
Jackson, wearing a gold baseballl cap with the Roman numeral 10 on it, said he would emulate the late Celtics coach, who was legendary for smoking a victory cigar after games.
Jackson says he would “smoke the cigar tonight in memory of Red. He was a great guy.”
Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy says Jackson is the greatest coach in NBA history. Van Gundy called Jackson’s 10 titles an “incomprehensible” achievement, adding: “The guy wins all the time.”
Jeremy Lin hit a free throw with 4.9 seconds left to overcome a dreadful second half and lift the New York Knicks to their fifth straight victory, 100-98, over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.
ProBasketballTalk tweets |
|
Source: Twitter. For more, follow @basketballtalk. |
Video: NBA from NBC Sports |
Lin on on 'Linsanity' Knicks guard Jeremy Lin discusses the hype surrounding his recent rise in New York. |
Slideshow |
more photos |
Special feature |
Who will be MVP? Interactive: Rank each player on a scale of 0 to 10 (10 = best player, 0 = barely worthy of consideration). NBCSports.com |
Slideshow |
more photos |
Slideshow |
A Tinseltown NBA finals Take a visual tour of the celebration of the Lakers’ NBA championship, plus images from the five-game win over the Magic. NBCSports.com |