Phil Jackson says he doesn’t follow the NBA because it became too ‘political’ since the 2020 Bubble

Hall of Fame basketball coach Phil Jackson has admitted to no longer following the NBA because it’s become ‘woke’ and too ‘political’ since the 2020 bubble.

The 77-year-old, who won 11 NBA championships as a head coach, claimed that he hasn’t stayed up to date with recent developments in the league since 2020, while speaking to the Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin podcast.

Three years ago postseason games were played in the ‘bubble’ at Disney World in Orlando, Florida, and players were permitted to display messages on the back of their jerseys, such as ‘Justice’ and ‘Black Lives Matter’. Only a few kept their last names on their shirts. 

‘I am not enjoying the game,’ Jackson said on the podcast on April 5. ‘There’s a whole generation that doesn’t like the game.

‘They did something that was kind of wanky, they did a bubble down in Orlando, and all the teams that could qualify went down there and stayed down there.’  

Phil Jackson admitted that he no longer takes pleasure in watching NBA games, blasting the league for being too ‘political’

Players were allowed to display messages on the back of their jerseys, such as ‘Justice’ and ‘Black Lives Matter’ in the 2020 NBA Bubble 

NBA players were also allowed to protest the national anthem by kneeling when it was played

Jackson, who won rings with the Chicago Bulls (1989-1998) and Los Angeles Lakers (1999-2004, 2005-2011), added: ‘And they had things on their back like, ”Justice.” They made a funny thing like, ”Justice just went to the basket and Equal Opportunity just knocked him down.”

‘[…] My grandkids thought that was pretty funny to play up those names. […] I couldn’t watch that.’ 

‘The Lakers won that year,’ he recalled. ‘They even had slogans on the floor and the baseline. It was trying to cater to an audience or trying to bring a certain audience to the game, and they didn’t know it was turning other people off. People want to see sports as non-political.

‘Politics stays out of the game; it doesn’t need to be there.’

Prior to the start of the 2020 NBA Bubble, the US was under lockdown after the spread of COVID-19 across all 50 states. At the time, racial tensions also increased after several high-profile police killings, including the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

The NBA took action, allowing players to kneel during the national anthem as a form of protest against racial inequality. The league also emblazoned ‘Black Lives Matters’ on the hardwood of its basketball courts. Players were given authorization to choose a social justice message to wear on the back of their uniforms too. 

Phil Jackson won 11 NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls and LA Lakers. Seen with Michael Jordan in June 1998

Jackson – a member of the basketball Hall of Fame – won three consecutive NBA rings with the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant (2000-02)

‘Phil Jackson says he doesn’t watch the NBA anymore because it should be non-political and not support slogans like ”Black Lives Matter,” tweeted Bishop Talbert Swan, a Massachusetts-based religious leader, who supports the NAACP.

‘The league is 80 percent black. He didn’t mind Jordan, @ScottiePippen, @kobebryant, @SHAQ, and mostly black players giving him 11 championships.’

Jackson made an NBA comeback in 2014 when he was appointed as the Knicks’ president of basketball operations, though he was pushed out of the door in 2017 after failing to build a team that could contend for a title, let alone make the playoffs.

He also made some bad trades in his three years as head of the Knicks front office, including sending away Kristaps Porzingis and Carmelo Anthony. 

One of the top 10 coaches of NBA history, Jackson was also never forgiven by Knicks fans for choosing to pass on Donovan Mitchell over Frank Ntilikina in the 2017 NBA Draft.