Phil Jackson is one of the more legendary NBA coaches, and he found a lot of success in his career. One, it was because of his concepts and game planning, but it was also the talent that he was able to coach. He had the pleasure of coaching Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant in their primes, and that led him to win 11 rings as a coach.
Even though he coached two of the best players to arguably ever pick up a basketball, there is still some players he wished that he could have taken under his wing. On an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show, Jackson shared who he wished he had coached.
“There are a lot of players that you look at and say, ‘What a terrific player this guy is.' I think [Christian] Laettner is one of the guys that never really got to play the way he was capable of playing in the NBA,” Jackson said. “I would like to coach a guy like that, who had the talent, had the leadership ability, and probably never blossomed as an NBA player.”
"Laettner… Had the talent, had the leadership ability. Probably never blossomed."
Phil Jackson says he may have brought out the best in Christian Laettner had he gotten the chance to coach him 🗣️
(via @dpshow)pic.twitter.com/1Cw3kiIUCJ
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) November 5, 2025
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Laettner is known as one of the best college basketball players, but he was never able to find his footing in the NBA. He was also a part of the 1992 Dream Team, as he was the only college player on the team.
Years ago, Shaquille O'Neal spoke about how Laettner motivated him to improve his game before he was drafted in 1992, but also mentioned how he was dominated by him in college.
“Christian ate me up in college,” Shaq said via Sports Illustrated. “The first year, he destroyed me. I didn't know who he was. He killed me. Second year, I kind of held my own and dominated the game, but we still lost.”
If Jackson had gotten a hold of him at some point in his career, it would've been interesting to see what could have been.