Los Angeles Lakers head coach Phil Jackson ... will be inducted into basketball's Hall of Fame. - Reuters ATLANTA (AP):
PHIL JACKSON, a winner of 10 NBA titles as a player and coach, and fellow coaches Pedro Ferrandiz of Spain and Mirko Novosel of Yugoslavia were selected for the U.S. Basketball Hall of Fame on Monday.
Also selected were Roy Williams, who has taken two schools to the United States college championship final, the 1966 U.S. college champion Texas Western team, four-time WNBA championship coach Van Chancellor, and former NBA referee Mendy Rudolph.
Jackson has won nine NBA titles as a coach with the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers, matching Red Auerbach's record and making him an easy selection to the Hall of Fame. He also played for the 1973 champion New York Knicks.
Blessed with opportunity
"I've been blessed to have coached in various leagues and cities over 25 years, but the opportunity to coach two talented NBA franchises, the Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Lakers, through championships says it all," Jackson said.
"I'm accepting this honour with full recognition of those players, coaching staffs and personnel that brought excellence to those teams."
Jackson coached Chicago to six NBA titles - 1991-93 and 1996-98 - before leading the Lakers to three straight championships from 2000-02.
With each team Jackson builtwinners around superstars - Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen with Chicago and Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant with the Lakers.
Ferrandiz coached Real Madrid to a record 12 Spanish league titles, 11 Spanish Cup championships, and four European Cup titles. He was a co-founder and first president of the World Association of Basketball Coaches.
Novosel led the former Yugoslavia to the 1980 Olympic gold medal, 1976 silver and 1984 bronze. He also guided Yugoslavia to silver at the 1974 world championships and coached Cibona to numerous club titles.
The seven-member class will be enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts on September 8.
