Phil Jackson to Induct Dennis Rodman and Tex Winter into Hall of Fame – NBA Update
Legendary coach Phil Jackson, who retired from NBA after the Los Angeles Lakers crashed down against the eventual NBA Champions, the Dallas Mavericks, in this year’s playoffs, has been called up to perform a special duty of inducting
Tex Winter and Dennis Rodman into the Hall of Fame on August 12.
Tex Winter and Dennis Rodman both share a special bond with the former Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers coach. Tex Winter was Jackson’s assistant coach for a considerable amount of time while Dennis Rodman was a former player
for the Chicago Bulls under Phil Jackson.
Dennis Rodman started his NBA career with the Detroit Pistons, where he became part of the team popularly known as the ‘Bad Boys’, due to their strong physical and volatile game play. At that point in time, Detroit was coached
by Chuck Daly, and Daly might have been the premier choice for Rodman, had he not passed away a couple of years ago.
However, Rodman and Jackson were on really good terms with each other and shared a lot of success as part of the Chicago Bulls. Phil Jackson was always impressed by Rodman’s strength and pure athleticism. He even went on to rate
Rodman as the ‘greatest pure athlete he ever coached’.
"He could probably play a 48-minute game and play the 48th minute stronger than the first minute of the game," Jackson once said. "He was that terrific an athlete."
Dennis Rodman played 14 seasons in the NBA and 7.3 points per game and an astounding 13.1 rebounds per game. In terms of statistics, his best season came about with the Pistons where he scored 9.8 points per game and a staggering
18.7 rebounds per game.
Tex Winter on the other hand, is widely recalled as Jackson’s assistant and the ‘offensive guru’. However, he was not just an assistant coach; he had a successful career as head coach of Kansas State University where he led them
to eight league titles and took them to the Final For twice. He was also named national coach of the year.
However, Winter is mostly praised for the use of his innovative basketball play known as the ‘triangle offense’. He even wrote a book on it and taught Michael Jordan all about it. The Bulls’ success and that of the Lakers in the
2000’s, is highly attributed to the triangle offense, which is now used on a wide scale on all levels of the game.
Both Dennis Rodman and Tex Winter have contributed immensely to the sport of basketball and the appointment of someone as legendary as Phil Jackson to induct them into the Hall of Fame has been appreciated by everyone.
The induction ceremony is scheduled to take place on August 12 in Massachusetts, at the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
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