The Los Angeles Lakers announced on September 8, 2026, that they will unveil a statue of former coach Phil Jackson outside their home arena. Jeanie Buss, who serves as acting governor of the Lakers, praised Jackson's impact on the team and the sport. She said his coaching style brought out the best in many of the greatest players to ever compete in basketball. Buss also noted how Jackson helped restore the Lakers' championship tradition after joining the team. Jackson will become the ninth Lakers figure honored with a statue at Star Plaza outside Crypto.com Arena.
Jackson coached the Lakers for a total of 11 seasons, leading them to six hundred and ten regular season wins and two hundred and ninety-two losses, according to CBS Sports. He also guided the team to one hundred and eighteen playoff victories and sixty-three defeats during that time. His 610 regular-season victories are the most by a head coach in Lakers history.
The Lakers made it to the playoffs every year under Jackson's leadership. He led them to the NBA Finals seven times and captured five championships. His teams won three straight titles from 2000 to 2002, completing a historic three-peat. Jackson's first Lakers stint ran from 1999 to 2004, and he returned from 2005 to 2011 after sitting out the 2004-05 season. His later Lakers teams, led by Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, won back-to-back championships in 2009 and 2010. Before joining the Lakers, Jackson coached the Chicago Bulls to six championships, giving him an NBA-record 11 titles as a head coach. The Associated Press noted that Jackson was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007.
The statue will be designed and created by Omri Amrany of Rotblatt Amrany Studio as a commission from the Lakers organization, according to a report from ESPN. It will be placed among other legendary figures outside the arena. The current group of Lakers legends includes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elgin Baylor, Kobe Bryant, Chick Hearn, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, Pat Riley, and Jerry West. Amrany's studio has also created statues honoring several other Lakers figures at Star Plaza, including Kobe Bryant, Chick Hearn, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Shaquille O'Neal.
The statue is scheduled to be unveiled on April 9, 2027, during a ceremony before the Lakers' home game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Jeanie Buss's name appears in the Lakers' official statement about the statue. It remains uncertain whether she will still be part of the ownership group by that date.
Buss is also involved in a legal dispute over a proposed sale of the Buss family's remaining ownership stake in the team. According to Reuters, the dispute concerns the family's remaining 17.8% stake, which Buss has sought to prevent from being sold without the approvals she says are required under the family trust and a 2017 court order. If that stake is sold, Buss could lose the ownership level needed to remain the Lakers' governor.
Jackson and Buss were once romantically linked, which makes her involvement in the statue announcement notable. Jackson and Buss began dating in 1999 and later became engaged before ending their engagement in 2016.