The Los Angeles Lakers have officially announced preparations for one of the most significant events in the franchise's history: legendary coach Phil Jackson will receive his own statue on the Star Plaza outside Crypto.com Arena. The unveiling ceremony is scheduled for April 9, 2027, and will take place before a regular-season NBA game in which the Lakers host the Minnesota Timberwolves. The club's decision to honor Jackson's contributions with a sculptural monument makes him one of the few coaches in NBA history to receive such a high distinction.
The Ceremony and the Choice of Sculptor
The commission for the monument was entrusted to sculptor Omri Amrani, representing the Rotblatt Amrany studio, which has already created a number of sports memorials in North America. The choice of Amrani was no accident: his works are distinguished by dynamic form and attention to detail, fitting Jackson's image as the coach who turned the Lakers into the dominant force of the early 2000s. The unveiling ceremony, planned for April 2027, will be part of the pregame program and, by the club's expectations, will draw a significant number of veterans, current roster players, and representatives of the basketball community to the stands at Crypto.com Arena.
Jackson's Era with the Lakers: Eleven Seasons and Five Rings
Phil Jackson, who turned 80 at the time the statue was announced, led the Lakers for eleven seasons, split across two stints: from 1999 to 2004 and from 2005 to 2011. During that time he guided the team to five NBA championships, including three in a row in 2000, 2001, and 2002 — a period in which the Lakers, built around Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, became a symbol of basketball dominance. Jackson won two more rings in 2009 and 2010, when the team featuring Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol once again reached the top of the league. Five titles in eleven seasons is a mark that only a handful of coaches have surpassed in the franchise's history.
Ninth Place on the Star Plaza Hall of Fame
Phil Jackson's statue will be the ninth on the Star Plaza outside Crypto.com Arena. He will join the already installed monuments of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elgin Baylor, Chick Hearn, Magic Johnson, Pat Riley, Jerry West, Shaquille O'Neal, and Kobe Bryant. Notably, among the eight predecessors only two — Pat Riley and Chick Hearn — were coaches, which underscores the exceptional nature of the recognition bestowed on Jackson. For a club whose history is closely tied to the names of great players, placing a coach in this company is a sign that his contribution to the Lakers' success is on par with the achievements of the most prominent athletes in the franchise's history.
Career Beyond Los Angeles and Industry Recognition
Over the course of his coaching career, Phil Jackson won 11 NBA championships: six of them with the Chicago Bulls in the Michael Jordan era, and five with the Lakers. In 2007 he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, and the league later recognized him as one of the fifteen most outstanding coaches in NBA history. These achievements make Jackson the only coach to have been included in the NBA's "15 Greatest" list twice, and one of only two specialists in league history to have won a championship in two different decades with two different teams.
Context: A Coach Who Stepped Away from Basketball
The announcement of the statue comes against the backdrop of Phil Jackson's complete departure from coaching. In a number of interviews he has admitted that he will not be able to return to the role of head coach because of his health, and at the All-Star Game in the final years before his departure he asked his assistants to take on some of his functional duties. Thus, the monument on the Star Plaza will be not merely a tribute to an active professional, but the closing note in the career of a man who, for more than three decades, defined the face of professional basketball and left behind a legacy measured by eleven championship rings and a whole generation of protégés who became legends of the league.
