April 22, 2023 4:04pm EDT
Phil Jackson says he has not tuned into much NBA since 2020 social justice statements: 'Couldn't watch that'
‘People want to see sports as non-political’
Joe Morgan
By Joe Morgan | Fox News Legendary NBA coach Phil Jackson isn’t watching much basketball these days as the 11-time NBA champion coach said the game has become too political.
On the "Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin" podcast, Jackson was asked whether he's been watching a good amount of NBA basketball since his retirement from coaching in 2011. "No. I don’t," he replied.
Jackson said he stopped watching a lot of games after the NBA Bubble in Orlando, Florida, which was created in order to finish the 2019-2020 season during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"They went into the lockout year, and they did something that was kind of wonky. They did a bubble down in Orlando, and all the teams that could qualify went down there, and stayed down there," he continued. "And they had things on their backs like ‘Justice.’ I made a little funny thing like, 'Justice just went to the basket and Equal Opportunity just knocked him down.' . . . So, my grandkids thought that was pretty funny to play up those names. So, I couldn't watch that."
Jackson seemed to be discussing the NBA allowing players to wear social justice messages on the backs of their jerseys during the bubble in Orlando.
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