Phil Jackson is the 11-time NBA Champion coach. He has maintained his health in recent years. He has made countless public appearances, the most recent being on the day Kobe’s monument was inaugurated. The 78-year-old last coached for the Lakers in 2011. Two years later, he reported that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer, prompting his early retirement. In 2014, he rejoined the NBA as an executive with the New York Knicks. However, things did not work out, and Jackson and the Knicks split ways in 2017.
Jackson told memories of Kobe Bryant at the ceremony to unveil his monument. Some of Bryant’s former colleagues who attended the event were Magic Johnson, Dwyane Wade, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Phil Jackson’s Health Update: Where is He Now?
Phil Jackson, the former Lakers coach, has previously made headlines over his health. But in his most recent visit, Jackson seemed fit and even told anecdotes about former Lakers great Kobe Bryant. Last year, Jackson said he stopped watching the NBA because it had gotten too political. In recent years, Jackson has participated in many podcasts, where he has discussed current players and coaches.
Jackson revealed on the Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin podcast that he hasn’t watched the NBA since the outbreak began in early 2020. Many NBA fans were outraged by the veteran coach’s remark, which expressed his hatred for the phrase “Black Lives Matter.” However, during his recent presence at Kobe Bryant’s statue unveiling event at Cryto.com Arena, the former basketball coach made the whole room chuckle by recounting the time Bryant met Michael Jordan.
After his speech, Jackson highlighted the moment when he was most proud of Kobe. It was when the late NBA player defended his teammate Adam Morrison on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Previously, in 2019, Kurt Rambis, one of Jackson’s longest assistants, said that the former coach was suffering from physical concerns. According to Rambis, Jackson suffered from several medical issues that slowed him down.
Jackson was also said to have had many hip and knee replacements. In 2013, the former Lakers coach disclosed in his book Eleven Rings that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2011. Jackson said that he presented his condition to the team during the 2011 conference semifinals against the Dallas Mavericks. The malignancy was eventually treated, first with medicine and then with surgery.
Phil Jackson’s Married Life and Kids
Phil Jackson, a legendary NBA coach, has five children from two prior marriages. Jackson was originally married to Maxine Jackson in 1967, but the couple separated in 1972. The former couple had one kid, Elizabeth Jackson. Phil Jackson’s eldest daughter is a teacher in Northern Virginia, having previously worked in international relations and financial industries in Washington, DC, and Newark, New Jersey.
After his divorce from Maxine, Jackson married June. But their romance did not endure. Jackson has four children with June, including twins. Chelsea Jackson, the former couple’s first child, is an interior designer and principal of Chelsea Sachs Design. She has prior experience in television production, having worked on the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. Brooke Jackson, their second daughter, is a psychologist with a degree in Clinical Psychology from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology.
June gave birth to twin boys, Charles and Ben Jackson. Charles is an entrepreneur who obtained a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Colorado. Ben is the executive director of The Writing Salon, an adults-only creative writing school in the San Francisco Bay Area. After his divorce in June, Phil Jackson fell in love with Jeanie Buss. The couple started dating in 1999 and was engaged in 2012 before calling it quits in 2016.
