The Los Angeles Lakers will honour former head coach Phil Jackson with a statue outside their downtown arena on April 9 next year.
Jackson will become the ninth member of the Lakers organisation to receive a statue. The bronze tribute will recognise his extraordinary coaching career with the franchise.
The 80-year-old coached the Lakers for 11 seasons between 1999 and 2011. He led the team to five NBA championships and seven NBA Finals appearances.
The Lakers reached the playoffs in every season Jackson coached them.
Jackson’s first spell ended after the 2003-04 season following a dispute with the Lakers’ management. He returned for the 2005-06 campaign and remained in charge until 2011.
He will now join a distinguished group outside the Lakers’ home arena.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson and Shaquille O’Neal already have statues. Elgin Baylor, Pat Riley, Jerry West and broadcaster Chick Hearn also feature among the organisation’s honourees.
Bryant has two statues, while the Lakers plan to unveil a third at a future date.
Riley became the most recent Lakers figure to receive a statue when the franchise honoured him in February.
Jackson also built a remarkable legacy with the Chicago Bulls. He coached the Bulls from 1989 to 1998 and won six championships alongside Michael Jordan.
His 11 NBA championships rank him among the most successful coaches in league history. He also won 1,155 regular-season games during his coaching career.
Jackson entered the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007, adding another major honour to his career.
The Lakers’ latest tribute reflects his central role in one of the franchise’s greatest eras.
Jackson coached Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant during the Lakers’ dominant run in the early 2000s. The team won three consecutive championships from 2000 to 2002.
He later guided Bryant and Pau Gasol to two more titles in 2009 and 2010.
