Lakers to Honor Phil Jackson With Statue Amid Buss Family Battle
The 11-time NBA champion coach becomes the ninth figure in Star Plaza, with a ceremony set for April 9, 2027 against Minnesota.
Statue is symbolic; the ownership fight is the real thing to track.
- 610-292 regular-season record over 11 Lakers seasons
- 118-63 playoff record, 5 titles in LA
- Ninth statue in Star Plaza, unveiled April 9, 2027
- Playoffs all 11 seasons, 7 Finals trips
- Won last NBA three-peat, 2000-02
Phil Jackson is getting bronzed. The Lakers announced they'll unveil a statue of their 11-time-titled Hall of Fame coach outside Crypto.com Arena next spring, with the ceremony scheduled before the April 9, 2027 game against the Timberwolves. He becomes the ninth figure honored in Star Plaza.
The numbers behind the honor are absurd. Over 11 seasons in LA, Jackson went 610-292 in the regular season and 118-63 in the playoffs, made the postseason every single year, reached seven Finals and won five championships — including the league's most recent three-peat from 2000 to 2002. Add his six rings from Chicago and you have the most decorated coach the sport has produced.
Jackson, now 80, was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame back in 2007. His statue joins eight existing Lakers legends: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elgin Baylor, Kobe Bryant, Chick Hearn, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, Pat Riley and Jerry West. Fittingly, Bryant and O'Neal — the twin engines of the Jackson dynasty — were the last two statue ceremonies Jackson attended in public at a Lakers game.
The Timing Is Loud
Here's what makes this more than a feel-good press release. The announcement lands while the franchise is in the middle of a sale to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger, and the Buss family is airing its laundry in court. The siblings are locked in a legal fight over selling their stake and removing Jeanie Buss as governor.
Jeanie Buss is contesting that sale, and she's the only voice quoted in the team's release about the statue. She credited Jackson — her former fiancé — with restoring the Lakers' championship legacy after her father brought him aboard. Whether she's still part of the ownership group when the April ceremony arrives is genuinely up in the air.
For fantasy managers, this is a statue story, not a stat story — nothing here touches your lineup for tonight or next week. But the ownership drama is worth keeping half an eye on. Front-office chaos has a way of trickling down into roster decisions, coaching stability and how a team handles minutes and load management. None of that is actionable yet, so file it under watch-and-wait and get back to your waiver wire.
