When Phil Jackson showed up at their hotel on Friday, the Chicago Bulls had a lot of questions for the legendary coach who helped them win six NBA championship banners.
Torrey Craig had an important question for the Hall of Famer.
Torrey Craig jokingly asked if he could go to Vegas for two days, and his teammates laughed.
Phil Jackson grinned when the reference to Dennis Rodman taking a trip to Las Vegas in 1998 was made. Coach Donovan jokingly responded that if Torrey rebounds like Rodman, he could go.
The Bulls spent about two hours with Phil Jackson during a break between games in Los Angeles and Portland. The Director of performance health Chip Schaefer helped facilitate the meeting, first with the coaching staff and then with the players.
The meeting was a Q&A session, where players got to ask Jackson about his long and successful history in the league — his two rings with the New York Knicks, the six championships as Bulls coach, and five more with the Lakers. Coach Donovan said the players were eager to learn about the history Jackson was part of, including his playoff series against the Detroit Pistons and the Boston Celtics, and his time with greats like Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Rodman.
Guard Coby White asked Jackson to describe the biggest difference between Jordan and Kobe Bryant. Jackson’s response was that Kobe didn’t have a conscience, while Michael Jordan did.
Coby White said that Jackson basically said he would be disappointed if after the game Jordan wasn’t 50% from the field, but that Kobe didn’t care if his field goal percentage was low.
DeMar DeRozan is the only player on the Bulls who faced Jackson during his final days as a coach. One of his more recent interactions with Jackson occurred at the funeral of Kobe and Gianna Bryant in February 2020. He was surprised to see Jackson and Popovich reconnect in that moment.
DeRozan said Jackson was one of the first people he saw at the funeral. He was moved watching Jackson and Popovich reconnect in that moment.
“I was in awe,” DeRozan said. “Just knowing the battles they went through, the success, the championships, the greatness. Just to be right there in your presence, seeing them having a conversation and interacting with one another, it was one of the highlights of my career to be able to be in the midst of those two greats talking and me being a fan of the game. I just remember that moment.”
For Donovan, the day was particularly meaningful as a New York native who grew up watching legends such as Dick McGuire, Red Holzman and Bill Fitch — foundational NBA players and coaches whom Jackson recalled as contemporaries.
Donovan said he has always admired and respected Jackson as a coach, as well as his achievements and the teams he has been part of. Donovan enjoys talking to people like Jackson and believes that certain aspects of the game remain unchanged over time.
After retiring in 2011, Jackson still follows the Bulls and the NBA, and has also become a fan of the NHL. He was eager to share stories from the peak of his coaching career, and provided insight into how the game has changed to favor high-scoring offenses since the 1990s.
Despite often discussing the technical aspects of the game, Donovan noted that Jackson focused on the fundamentals and intangibles of building a winning culture. Donovan considers Jackson's insight and advice to be the most important and influential for the current Bulls team.
Donovan remarked that many of the things Jackson spoke of still hold true today and are timeless.
DeRozan mentioned that after spending less than an hour with Jackson, he wished the Bulls could have had more time with the former coach, as the experience was inspiring.
DeRozan compared being in the same room with Jackson to seeing an inspiring infomercial, and said it was impossible not to leave feeling inspired after being in the presence of such greatness.
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