Phil Jackson Should Take Better Care of His Championship Rings

Based on the way Phil Jackson treats his championship rings, it's pretty clear that the Zen Master isn't all that into materialism.

According to a blog by Maria Luci called "Wonderful Machine," Jackson presented his rings to a photographer for his book cover in a decidedly unceremonious fashion. Apparently, Jackson keeps the rings loose in a velour sack, doesn't take care of them and isn't particularly concerned about keeping them safe.

Luci described the photo shoot, conducted by Joseph Escamilla, thusly:

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Once in the garage, Joseph says that Phil Jackson brought in the rings in a 'little velour sack and just kind of dumped them out on a notepad, and told us to just yell upstairs when we’re done. We all just looked at each other as he walked back into the house while we stood next to his Benz, beach cruisers, and general garage detritus with more than a handful of gold and diamonds just kind of jumbled together.'

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Jackson doesn't seem to care so much about the appearance of his rings, which Escamilla described to Luci as "banged up." So maybe it's not a huge shock that he'd be willing to leave them in a room with a total stranger.

I mean, the guy just dumped them onto a legal pad:

Hey, wait a minute! That's an NBA notepad! Clearly, Jackson's disdain for personal property extends to that of others. He must have snagged that pad of paper on his way out of Los Angeles. Either that, or he's already raiding the supply closet in his capacity as an advisor with the Detroit Pistons.

Anyway, Jackson's rings have taken on a life of their own in the media recently. Most notably, they were at the heart of his clever introduction to Twitter:

Remember when the Internet was falling all over itself to make jokes about that tweet?

Well, Jackson and his rings had the last laugh:

On a side note, it's always kind of funny how the two rings Jackson earned in his playing days with the New York Knicks are so easily forgotten. His new book is titled Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success, ignores the fact that he's actually got 13 of them:

See how he separates them from the shinier, diamond-encrusted ones he earned as a coach?

I bet he had to dig them out of the ashtray in his car like a couple of corroded old pennies. Come on, Phil; those old ones count, too.

Maybe his next book should be called Zen and the Art of Jewelry Maintenance.

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