NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal had the privilege of playing for both Phil Jackson and Pat Riley, two of the greatest coaches in NBA history, during his career.
He played under Jackson for several years during his stint with the Los Angeles Lakers, and he played under Riley for a few years during his stint with the Miami Heat.
According to O’Neal, Jackson took a largely humorous approach to things while Riley was more serious. While O’Neal believes that both styles can be effective, he seems to think that “if you have a little bit more humor, you can get more done” in the long run.
“I actually did my dissertation on this, the duality of leadership styles between humorous and seriousness,” O’Neal said. “Pat was serious, all the way serious, right, and then what I realized when I was doin’ my research (was) you can’t be 100 percent one way, so I’ma give Pat 90-10 — 90 percent serious and 10 percent humorous. Phil Jackson was probably about 70-30 — 70 percent humorous and 30 percent seriousness. Both styles can be effective, but I think in the long run, if you have a little bit more humor, you can get more done.”
O’Neal had success playing under both coaches. With Jackson, O’Neal and the Lakers won three NBA championships, and they came in three straight seasons. L.A. ruled the NBA world in 2000, 2001 and 2002. Later in his career, O’Neal won his fourth NBA title, doing so while playing under Riley on the Heat. It came in the 2006 NBA Finals.
O’Neal was able to assemble a legendary resume during his NBA career. On top of winning four rings, he earned 15 All-Star bids, two scoring titles, one league MVP award and three NBA Finals MVP awards — and those are just a handful of the many accolades he accumulated.
Nowadays, the Heat are coached by Erik Spoelstra, and the Lakers are entering a new era with J.J. Redick at the helm. It isn’t entirely clear yet what style of head coach Redick is going to be — and he might not know either — as he’s going to have to do a lot of learning on the fly. Redick’s Lakers job marks the first high-level coaching position in his life.
O’Neal said earlier this offseason that he thinks the Lakers will get off to a rough start under Redick, but the first-year head coach will certainly do everything in his power to make sure that isn’t the case. L.A. will open its season on Oct. 22 against the Minnesota Timberwolves as part of a tricky stretch to start the campaign.
It’s interesting to hear O’Neal’s perspective on various coaching styles in the NBA, especially since he got to experience the differences himself.
