Who would you rather have coaching your team?
Phil Jackson and Jerry Sloan have been the ideal NBA coaches for the last 20 plus years, Jackson with the Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Lakers, Sloan only with the Utah Jazz.
The two men generate immediate reactions in the minds of hoops fans.
When you think Phil Jackson, his name is synonymous with winning. Jackson has 11 championship rings as a coach, six from his time with the Bulls and five from his stint with the Lakers.
So you know Jackson can win.
When you think Jerry Sloan, his name is synonymous with loyalty. In the era of modern sport, where teams are revenue making enterprises in the business of selling entertainment, it is rare that a head coach becomes the face of the franchise. But that's just what happened with Jerry Sloan. Patrolling the sideline for the Jazz since December 9, 1988 (longer then I have been alive), Sloan was the longest tenured coach of any pro sports team, he is the only NBA coach to win 1,000 games with one team, and the third winningest coach in NBA history.
Sloan never won a championship though. He made it to the Finals twice where he lost to, you guessed it, Phil Jackson.
Jackson has coached some of the greatest players to play the game has ever seen.
Sloan has had significantly less talent at his disposal.
Jackson is the guru of the triangle offense, teaching the importance of spacing and interior passing to the scoring success of a team.
Sloan wants his players to be tough nosed defenders and fierce rebounders.
As players, Jackson was a heady, long haired role player, who'd absorb the teachings of his mentor, Red Holzman, from the bench while ...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
