Triangle Offense - NBA

NBA

Head coach Phil Jackson, with help from assistant coach Tex Winter, utilized the triangle offense to great success. The Chicago Bulls under Jackson won six NBA titles in the 1990s playing in the triangle. His first 3 title-winning teams in Chicago featured Hall of Famers Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. Jackson's later 3 titles with the Bulls came with Jordan, Pippen, and fellow Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman. Jackson's Los Angeles Lakers later won five championships employing the triangle. His first 3 Lakers championship squads fielded superstars Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, while his last 2 title teams saw him pair Bryant with fellow All-Star Pau Gasol. Jackson coached the Bulls from 1989-1998. He next served as the head coach of the Lakers twice, first from 1999-2004, and then from 2005-2011.

When Jackson became the head coach of the Chicago Bulls before the start of the 1989-1990 NBA season, he and Winter originally installed the triangle offense in an attempt to subvert the Jordan Rules strategy employed by their Eastern Conference rivals, the Detroit Pistons. The "Jordan Rules" was a defensive strategy which consisted of solely targeting Michael Jordan. Jordan had already established himself as an elite NBA superstar by single-handedly turning Chicago into a playoff contender. However, by sharing responsibility rather than shouldering it, he continued to blossom as a great all-around basketball player. More importantly, the Bulls also improved notably as a team, finishing with a 55-27 record. The Bulls fell to the Pistons in 7 games in the 1990 Eastern Conference Finals. The following year, however, Chicago finished the 1990-1991 NBA season with a then-franchise best 61-21 record, good for first place in the East, then swept the archrival Pistons 4-0 in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals. The Bulls then defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals, 4 games to 1. Michael Jordan won his second NBA Most Valuable Player Award that season and finally won his first championship.

The triangle offense was also used effectively by the Bulls during the 1995-96 season. Jordan, back at the helm for the team in his first full season since coming out of retirement, won his 4th NBA MVP award (He won his 5th MVP 2 years later). He also finished the season as the league's leading scorer, the 8th time he had achieved this honor (He won 2 more scoring titles in 1997 and 1998, bringing his final total to 10 scoring titles and 6 championships). Chicago functioned almost perfectly as a team as well. Behind the playmaking abilities of Jordan and Scottie Pippen, coupled with Dennis Rodman's defense and rebounding, the Bulls recorded an NBA-record 72-10 season en route to what was then their 4th NBA championship. Jackson won his first (and only) NBA Coach of the Year Award for his efforts during his team's record-breaking season. Overall, the Bulls won 6 NBA titles during the 1990s, and are considered to be one of the NBA's greatest dynasties.

Jackson installed the triangle offense again when he started coaching the Lakers in the 1999-2000 season, with Winter serving as an assistant on his staff. This time, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant served as the focal points of L.A.'s offense. O'Neal won the NBA MVP Award in 2000, and Bryant rose to prominence as one of the NBA's newest stars. The Lakers became an elite NBA team during Jackson's first term as their coach, making 4 NBA Finals appearances in 5 years and winning 3 straight NBA titles from 2000-2002. At the end of the 2004 Finals, which resulted in losing to the Detroit Pistons, his contract was not renewed. He did, however, come back to the Lakers as head coach starting in the 2005-2006 season. Despite the presence of Bryant as the centerpiece of the team, the Lakers couldn't get past the first round of the playoffs in 2006 or 2007. But when L.A. acquired versatile forward Pau Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies via trade in the middle of the 2008 season, their fortunes were soon reversed for the better. With Bryant and Gasol running the triangle offense, the Lakers made the NBA Finals 3 straight times, capturing championships in 2009 & 2010. In the process, Jackson surpassed Red Auerbach's record of most titles won by an NBA coach.

When Phil Jackson retired as a head coach at the end of the 2010-2011 season, he had amassed 11 NBA titles: 6 with the Bulls, 5 with the Lakers. In addition, he finished his career with over 1000 victories over the course of his Hall of Fame coaching career, regular season and playoff games combined. Tex Winter earned induction into the Hall of Fame in 2011 for his contributions to basketball involving the triangle offense. He was an assistant on the first 9 of Jackson's 11 championship teams and served as a consultant to the team on the other two.