Legendary NBA coach Phil Jackson criticized the league for scheduling games on Catholic holidays in a rare post on social media on Sunday.
Jackson, an 11-time NBA champion as a coach and two-time champion as a player, posted the criticism on Easter Sunday, when the league had four games in the first round of the NBA Playoffs scheduled.
Phil Jackson of the New York Knicks during the NBA Draft Combine Day 2 at the Quest Multisport Center on May 12, 2017, in Chicago. (Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images)
“Again the NBA tests faith by playing multiple games on Christmas and Easter… sacred days,” the post on X read.
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The post was Jackson’s first in over a year, but his criticism of the NBA is not unique.
In 2023, Jackson made headlines when he said he stopped watching the NBA following the COVID-19 pandemic because the league had gotten too political.
“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 said at the time during an appearance on the “Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin” podcast.
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green greets fans after winning Game 1 of first-round playoff series against the Rockets in Houston, Sunday, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
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“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 was referring to the NBA allowing players to wear social justice messages on the backs of their jerseys during the bubble in Orlando. He added at the time that he felt the league was catering to a “certain audience.”
“They didn’t know it was turning other people off. People want to see sports as non-political.”
Former Los Angeles coach Phil Jackson during a news conference at the Lakers training facility on May 11, 2011, in El Segundo, California. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
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The NBA and NFL continue to compete for viewership on Christmas Day. This year, the NFL announced that three games will be played on the holiday following the success of last season’s double-header on Netflix.
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