Next spring, the Los Angeles Lakers are scheduled to install a ninth monument at Star Plaza, situated outside Crypto.com Arena, dedicated to the iconic head coach Phil Jackson. The dedication ceremony will take place ahead of their matchup with the Minnesota Timberwolves on April 9, 2027.
“There is a clear reason why Phil Jackson is synonymous with championship-level basketball,” stated Jeanie Buss, governor of the Lakers. “His brilliant style of leadership extracted peak performances from some of the most remarkable players in basketball history. Once he agreed to join the organization at my father’s request, Phil’s incredible innovation and dedication to greatness revitalized our winning tradition, securing five championships and establishing a benchmark of quality for future decades. We are absolutely thrilled to honor this legacy with a monument that he has completely earned.”
Over his 11-year tenure guiding the Lakers, Jackson accumulated a regular-season record of 610-292 alongside a postseason record of 118-63. Under his leadership, the franchise secured a postseason berth every single year, advancing to the NBA Finals on seven occasions and capturing five championships, which featured the league’s most recent three-peat from 2000 to 2002. Currently 80 years old, Jackson entered the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007, having also secured six league championships during his tenure with the Chicago Bulls.
This tribute to Jackson will stand alongside the eight existing Lakers icons who have been memorialized outside the stadium, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elgin Baylor, Kobe Bryant, Chick Hearn, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, Pat Riley, and Jerry West. Bryant and O’Neal represent the two superstars most deeply linked to Jackson’s coaching era, and Jackson’s last few visits to Lakers matchups occurred during the monument unveilings for each of those players.
The timing of this announcement is particularly intriguing, as the Lakers are currently navigating a potential ownership transition — this time involving Bob Iger and Josh Kushner — which has brought private conflict within the Buss family into the public eye through a courtroom dispute among the siblings regarding the sale of their franchise shares and an effort to strip Jeanie Buss of her governor role.
With Jeanie Buss actively fighting the transaction legally, her exclusive quote in the organization’s press release concerning the monument is highly significant. It is still uncertain if Buss will remain associated with the franchise’s ownership when the dedication event takes place on April 9, during which the likeness of Jackson, who was once her fiancé, will join the ranks of other legendary Lakers.
