Dean Smith and Phil Jackson were the most influential coaches in Michael Jordan’s basketball career. MJ won an NCAA title with Smith at the University of North Carolina, while His Airness captured six championships with Jackson as head coach of the Chicago Bulls.
But while both were very influential to MJ’s career and important to his legacy, Jordan said he would pick Smith over Jackson if he needed a coach for one basketball game.
“Dean Smith,” said Jordan during a Q&A at one of his Flight School basketball camps. “Fortunately Dean Smith helped me become the basketball player I am today. Phil was lucky because I was taught the game by Dean Smith.”
Smith was the only person MJ feared
Picking Dean over Phil didn’t come as a surprise. MJ once said that Smith was the only person he feared during his basketball career. But that fear was more of respect and reverence because Mike said that Coach Smith was a big name in North Carolina while he was a kid from a small town. However, that initial feeling turned into admiration as it was Smith who molded Jordan’s game and character.
“Coach Smith would challenge you mentally,” said MJ. “He made you think. He never cursed at anybody. He was the perfect guy for me. He kept me humble, but he challenged me. He gave me confidence by giving me when he thought I needed them.”
Under Smith’s tutelage, Jordan emerged from a college freshman into the best player in the nation when he left the University of North Carolina. Even when he was already a massive star in the NBA, Jordan credited Dean for honing his skills and elevating his game to the next level.
Phil was more of a motivator
While Jackson helped MJ win six NBA championships during the 1990s, he was more of a motivator than a teacher of the fundamentals. Phil was known as the Zen Master and was always calm when the Bulls were in trouble. Jordan himself talked about Jackson’s motivational teachings.
“It helps so much having Phil as our coach. He goes around and burns sage in front of our lockers, and when we’re playing bad in practice, he’ll beat on a war drum to wake us up. You laugh, but that stuff is a part of him. He believes it, the Zen, the poise. It comes from his meditating, gaining the ability to stay in touch with your body and your inner self, calming yourself when tension is all around,” he said.
Phil is one of the greatest and most successful coaches in NBA history. But as Jordan said, he was already fundamentally sound when Jackson arrived in his career. Zen Master managed the Bulls well enough to win six chips, but they probably wouldn’t have won even one if MJ hadn’t come from North Carolina.