Who is the greatest NBA coach?
The argument of whether this honor belongs to Jackson or Auerbach is a non-starter. In fact, each presided over his own sharply defined era. Auerbach dominated in an age when players had little or no say over where they played and for how much money; the secret of Auerbach’s transcendental success was that he treated his players with respect — not as indentured servants but rather as free men. He did not lord his power over them. Now that players are able to leverage the threat of free agency to negotiate enormous guaranteed salaries and scheme to have coaches fired if they so please, Jackson’s long-standing reply as coach has been to offer his players freedom of choice. The triangle offense is not based on running the play as dictated by the coach. Instead it puts players in position to make their own decisions, with Jackson counseling them to ultimately do what is best for the team. He doesn’t pretend that he can force them to do anything they don’t choose to do for themselves. And
