Legendary NBA Coach Phil Jackson criticized the league for planning games on Catholic holidays in a rare post on social media on Sunday.
Jackson, an 11-time NBA champion as coach and two-time champion as a player, announced the criticism on Easter Day when the league had four matches in the first round of NBA Playoffs scheduled.
Phil Jackson from New York Knicks during the NBA draft combines Day 2 at Quest Multisport Center on May 12, 2017 in Chicago. (Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images)
“Again, the NBA is testing by playing more games in Christmas and Easter … holy days,” read the post on X.
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The post was Jackson’s first in over a year, but his criticism of the NBA is not unique.
In 2023 Jackson headlines came when he said he stopped watching NBA after Covid-19 Pandemic because the league had become too political.
“They went into the lockout year and they did something that was kind of wonky. They made a bubble down in Orlando, and all teams that could qualify went down there and remained down there,” he said at the time during a performance on “Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin”.
Golden State Warrior’s Forward Draymond Green greets fans after winning Games 1 in the first round playoff series against Rockets in Houston, Sunday 20 April 2025. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
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“And they had things on my back like ‘righteousness’. I made a little funny thing like,’ Justice just went to the basket and equal opportunities just hit him down .’… so my grandchildren thought it was pretty fun to play these names.
Jackson referred to the NBA so players could wear social justice messages on their backs on their jerseys during the bubble in Orlando. He added at the time that he felt that the league was catering to a “certain audience.”
“They didn’t know it was to turn off other people. People will see sports as non-political.”
Former Los Angeles coach Phil Jackson during a news conference at the Lakers training facility on May 11, 2011 in El Segundo, California. (Kevork Djanszian/Getty Images)
NBA and NFL continue to compete for viewers 1. This year Nfl Announced that three games will be played on the holidays after the success of last season’s double heads on Netflix.
