The Los Angeles Lakers will honor legendary coach Phil Jackson with a statue at Star Plaza outside Crypto.com Arena next spring. The ceremony is scheduled to take place before the Lakers’ April 9, 2027, game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Jackson’s statue will become the ninth dedicated to a Lakers figure outside the arena. Lakers governor Jeanie Buss said Jackson’s approach to coaching helped bring out the best in some of the greatest players in basketball and credited him with restoring the franchise’s championship legacy.
Phil Jackson statue joins Lakers legends at Star Plaza
Jackson coached the Lakers for 11 seasons, recording a 610-292 regular-season record and going 118-63 in the playoffs. During every one of his 11 seasons as coach, the Lakers reached the postseason.
The Lakers advanced to the NBA Finals seven times under Jackson and won five championships. His teams captured three consecutive titles from 2000 through 2002, the NBA’s most recent three-peat.
Jackson’s statue will join eight other Lakers figures already honored at Star Plaza: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elgin Baylor, Kobe Bryant, Chick Hearn, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, Pat Riley, and Jerry West.
Lakers and Phil Jackson’s championship legacy
Jackson, who is 80, was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007. Before and during his coaching career with the Lakers, he also won six other championships as coach of the Chicago Bulls.
Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal remain the two players most closely associated with the Jackson era in Los Angeles. Jackson’s latest public appearances at a Lakers game came during the statue ceremonies honoring Bryant and O’Neal.
Buss said Jackson’s arrival followed an invitation from her father and described his creativity and commitment to excellence as important elements in restoring the Lakers’ championship tradition.
Star Plaza ceremony comes amid Lakers ownership dispute
The announcement of the Phil Jackson statue comes as the Lakers are involved in another franchise sale, this time to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger. At the same time, a legal dispute between members of the Buss family has emerged over the sale of their stake in the team and the removal of Jeanie Buss as the Lakers’ governor.
Jeanie Buss is challenging the sale in court, making her involvement in the statue announcement notable because her name appears with the only quote in the Lakers’ release about the honor.
It remains uncertain whether Buss will still be part of the Lakers’ ownership group when the April 9, 2027, ceremony takes place. Jackson’s statue will then be added to the group of Lakers legends already immortalized outside Crypto.com Arena.