NBA legend Phil Jackson sparks backlash with controversial non-‘political’ comments

Phil Jackson, the former LA Lakers star and legendary head coach, has found himself in hot water after claiming that politics should stay out of sport

Phil Jackson, the former LA Lakers star and legendary head coach, has found himself in hot water after claiming that politics should stay out of sport. In a recent appearance on the Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin show, Jackson expressed his disinterest in the NBA, claiming that the league had become too "political" for its own good.

Phil Jackson, the former LA Lakers star and legendary head coach, has found himself in hot water after claiming that politics should stay out of sport.

Jackson's comments have not gone down well with NBA fans, who have accused him of being out of touch and hypocritical. Despite claiming that he doesn't watch basketball anymore, eagle-eyed fans have pointed out that Jackson was in fact at a Lakers game last year, seemingly contradicting his own statements.

Some fans have taken to social media to express their frustration with Jackson, with one saying: "The guy who made $10 mil+ a year in the NBA for many many years is now complaining about it? Cool. Happy Retirement, Phil!" Another fan was more scathing, saying that the NBA was not missing Jackson despite its increased revenue to over 10 billion last year.

Jackson's comments come after the NBA allowed players to wear messages on the back of their jerseys, including 'Justice', 'Black Lives Matter' and 'Education Reform', during the 2020 coronavirus-enforced bubble in Orlando. These messages were particularly prominent after the murder of George Floyd, and many players felt it was important to use their platform to speak out against racial injustice.

However, Jackson believes that the NBA should not mix sports and politics, saying that it turns core fans away and that people want to see sports as non-political. He even went as far as to suggest that the NBA was trying to cater to a certain audience by having slogans on the floor and baselines, and that they didn't know it was turning other people off.

Jackson, who won 11 championships as both a player and head coach, argued that the league's efforts to attract a "certain audience" were turning away core fans. He criticized the use of messages on players' jerseys during the 2020 bubble season in Orlando, saying it was "kind of w****" and turned him off from the game.

It remains to be seen whether Jackson's comments will have any impact on the NBA or its fans, but one thing is for sure: the debate over politics in sport is far from over.