Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan and the 25 Greatest Players to Play For Phil Jackson

If all of Phil Jackson's hopes and dreams come true, he coached his final NBA game yesterday, during which his L.A. Lakers were demolished by the Dallas Mavericks en route to a Western Conference Semifinals series sweep.

Although Jackson's career probably didn't end the way he had imagined, he will arguably go down as the greatest head coach in NBA history.

He has coached some of the greatest players and teams the league has ever seen. He has accumulated 13 championships (11 as a coach) throughout his illustrious career, holds a winning percentage of .704 (highest in NBA coaching history) and is the only coach out of any of North America's major professional sports to win more than 10 championship rings.

In order to achieve all of these accomplishments, Jackson definitely needed to receive some help from the athletes playing on the court. He received that help and much more from his players. He has coached some of the greatest players ever, who have helped him succeed beyond his imagination.

Here is a list of the 25 greatest playing careers under Jackson's tutelage. I'm only taking into account the years they played under Jackson. I did not take into account the amount of years they spent under Jackson or the amount of games they played, but how they contributed to Jackson's teams.

Enjoy!

Honorable Mention

Kwame Brown

Matt Barnes

AC Green

Steve Kerr

John Paxson

Shannon Brown

Ronny Turiaf

25. Chris Mihm

Seasons under Phil Jackson: 3

NBA Championships with Phil Jackson: 0

Games Played: 100

MPG: 19.26

PPG: 7.22

RPG: 4.84

APG: .87

SPG: .20

BPG: .93

24. Samaki Walker

Seasons under Phil Jackson: 2

NBA Championships with Phil Jackson: 1

Games Played: 136

MPG: 21.32

PPG: 5.56

RPG: 6.24

APG: .94

SPG: .35

BPG: 1.05

23 Robert Horry

Seasons under Phil Jackson: 4

NBA Championships with Phil Jackson: 3

Games Played: 317

MPG: 24.46

PPG: 6.35

RPG: 5.21

APG: 2.24

SPG: .98

BPG: .90

22. Rick Fox

Seasons under Phil Jackson: 5

NBA Championships with Phil Jackson: 3

Games Played: 360

MPG: 25.22

PPG: 7.86

RPG: 3.71

APG: 2.87

SPG: .80

BPG: .26

21. Ron Harper

Seasons under Phil Jackson: 6

NBA Championships with Phil Jackson: 5

Games Played: 444

MPG: 23.93

PPG: 7.28

RPG: 3.11

APG: 2.66

SPG: 1.17

BPG: .47

20. Bill Cartwright

Seasons under Phil Jackson: 5

NBA Championships with Phil Jackson: 3

Games Played: 319

MPG: 24.88

PPG: 8.38

RPG: 5.20

APG: 1.56

SPG: .38

BPG: .25

19. Luc Longley

Seasons under Phil Jackson: 5

NBA Championships with Phil Jackson: 3

Games Played: 261

MPG: 24.25

PPG: 8.91

RPG: 5.33

APG: 2.13

SPG: .43

BPG: 1.07

18. Derek Fisher

Seasons under Phil Jackson: 9

NBA Championships with Phil Jackson: 5

Games Played: 660

MPG: 28.03

PPG: 8.93

RPG: 2.15

APG: 2.87

SPG: 1.14

BPG: .09

17. Trevor Ariza

Seasons under Phil Jackson: 2

NBA Championships with Phil Jackson: 1

Games Played: 106

MPG: 22.96

PPG: 8.35

RPG: 4.11

APG: 1.71

SPG: 1.54

BPG: .30

16. Ron Artest

Seasons under Phil Jackson: 2

NBA Championships with Phil Jackson: 1

Games Played: 159

MPG: 31.54

PPG: 9.70

RPG: 3.76

APG: 1.53

SPG: 1.45

BPG: .36

15. Smush Parker

Seasons under Phil Jackson: 2

NBA Championships with Phil Jackson: 0

Games Played: 164

MPG: 25.79

PPG: 11.27

RPG: 2.91

APG: 3.23

SPG: 1.58

BPG: .16

14. Andrew Bynum

Seasons under Phil Jackson: 6

NBA Championships with Phil Jackson: 2

Games Played: 332

MPG: 24.28

PPG: 10.46

RPG: 7.13

APG: 1.13

SPG: .30

BPG: 1.54

13. BJ Armstrong

Seasons under Phil Jackson: 6

NBA Championships with Phil Jackson: 3

Games Played: 491

MPG: 25.94

PPG: 10.90

RPG: 1.84

APG: 3.39

SPG: .80

BPG: .08

12. Glen Rice

Seasons under Phil Jackson: 1

NBA Championships with Phil Jackson: 1

Games Played: 80

MPG: 31.63

PPG: 15.90

RPG: 4.09

APG: 2.20

SPG: .59

BPG: .15

11. Gary Payton

Seasons under Phil Jackson: 1

NBA Championships with Phil Jackson: 0

Games Played: 82

MPG: 34.45

PPG: 14.62

RPG: 4.17

APG: 5.48

SPG: 1.17

BPG: .23

10. Karl Malone

Seasons under Phil Jackson: 1

NBA Championships with Phil Jackson: 0

Games Played: 42

MPG: 32.70

PPG: 13.20

RPG: 8.74

APG: 3.88

SPG: 1.19

BPG: .48

9. Toni Kukoc

Seasons under Phil Jackson: 5

NBA Championships with Phil Jackson: 3

Games Played: 368

MPG: 28.10

PPG: 13.28

RPG: 4.48

APG: 4.02

SPG: 1.04

BPG: .39

8. Horace Grant

Seasons under Phil Jackson:7

NBA Championships with Phil Jackson: 4

Games Played: 518

MPG: 32.94

PPG: 11.92

RPG: 8.44

APG: 2.42

SPG: 1.01

BPG: 1.05

7. Dennis Rodman

Seasons under Phil Jackson: 3

NBA Championships with Phil Jackson: 3

Games Played: 199

MPG: 34.63

PPG: 5.21

RPG: 15.26

APG: 2.81

SPG: .58

BPG: .32

6. Lamar Odom

Seasons under Phil Jackson: 6

NBA Championships with Phil Jackson: 2

Games Played: 455

MPG: 34.91

PPG: 13.44

RPG: 9.35

APG: 3.75

SPG: .88

BPG: .87

5. Pau Gasol

Seasons under Phil Jackson: 4

NBA Championships with Phil Jackson: 2

Games Played: 255

MPG: 36.71

PPG: 18.69

RPG: 10.04

APG: 3.42

SPG: .59

BPG: 1.44

4. Scottie Pippen

Seasons under Phil Jackson: 9

NBA Championships with Phil Jackson: 6

Games Played: 681

MPG: 37.88

PPG: 19.55

RPG: 7.22

APG: 5.90

SPG: 2.26

BPG: .96

3. Kobe Bryant

Seasons under Phil Jackson: 11

NBA Championships with Phil Jackson: 5

Games Played: 837

MPG: 38.72

PPG: 27.83

RPG: 5.73

APG: 5.14

SPG: 1.64

BPG: .49

2. Shaquille O'Neal

Seasons under Phil Jackson: 5

NBA Championships with Phil Jackson: 3

Games Played: 354

MPG: 38.15

PPG: 27.04

RPG: 11.99

APG: 3.33

SPG: .55 

BPG: 2.56

1. Michael Jordan

Seasons under Phil Jackson: 8

NBA Championships with Phil Jackson: 6

Games Played: 585

MPG: 37.80

PPG: 30.79

RPG: 6.34

APG: 5.07

SPG: 2.30

BPG: .71

Questions/Comments/Concerns

Do you believe I'm missing someone on my list?

Do you disagree with the order of my list?

Feel free to let me know if you believe I'm wrong or if you agree with my entire list!

LET THE DEBATING BEGIN!!!