Shaquille O’Neal Reveals The Advice He Got From Hall of Famer Coach Phil Jackson That Made Him A “Champion”

With the 75th anniversary of the NBA, some of the greatest players have got their fruits. However, the NBA did not forget about their coaches. Recently, they revealed the list of 15 of the best NBA coaches. Unsurprisingly, Phil Jackson was a part of that list. Shaquille O’Neal spoke about Phil and how he helped him become a championship type of player.

While on NBA on TNT, Shaq explained how Phil handed him the blueprint to “be a champion”.

Phil Jackson is one of the most renowned coaches in the NBA. He saw success both as a player and as a coach. While his championships with the Knicks go under the cover, his achievements as a coach are too great. Notably, he became the brains behind two of the most dominating dynasties in NBA history.

The man behind Shaquille O’Neal supremacy

With Phil coming in as one of the 15 greatest coaches in NBA history, a former player of his, Shaq spoke about the mastermind. He explained how Phil was fair and was a player’s coach more than anything else. Shaq learned a lot from him and even passed it down to a young Dwyane Wade in Miami.

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Shaq said: “Being with him, I made up the famous quote ‘If the general doesn’t panic, the troops don’t panic’. I play for a lot of coaches where it gets real tight, they start panicking, But Phil would always just look at us and say ‘I’m not going to bail you out, do what you do’. And it was great to play for him.”

Jackson was a mastermind like no other. He helped Michael Jordan in getting his six rings to a point where MJ refused to play under any other coach. Moreover, he was also a part of Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant’s three peat with the Lakers. The legendary coach won 11 championships in his coaching career with the Bulls and Lakers. Hence, there is no doubt Phil deserves to be on the list of the greatest coaches in NBA history.

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Do you think Shaquille O’Neal would have won his championships without Phil Jackson? Let us know in the comments below.