Raptors' Darko Rajakovic links up in California with legendary NBA coach Phil Jackson

On Sunday night, Toronto Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic got the best of his opposition in nine-time NBA champion Steve Kerr.

With the Raptors knocking off the Golden State Warriors by a 133-118 score last night in San Francisco, Rajakovic was probably feeling pretty good about his ability to outmatch one of the most widely respected coaches in the league — even for a night. Having won five NBA titles as a player before his four as a coach, Kerr’s resume speaks for itself.

But while there are few people in the history of the NBA with as extensive a list of honours as Kerr, Rajakovic found his way while on the team’s West Coast trip to link up with someone with even more championship rings.

On Monday, Rajakovic shared a photo on X of himself with former Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers head coach Phil Jackson, the head of two of the NBA’s most iconic dynasties.

Huge privilage and honor to meet @PhilJackson11 and talk life and basketball. pic.twitter.com/S0mfXC2n3q

— Darko Rajakovic (@DRajakovic) January 8, 2024

Having won 11 rings as a coach — and two as a player with the New York Knicks — Jackson trails only the late Red Auerbach for most titles won by any one person.

Having coached stars like Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Scottie Pippen, and yes, Kerr himself, we can only wonder about the types of stories Jackson passed on to Rajakovic.

But Rajakovic isn’t the first Raptors coach that Jackson has taken under his wing.

Former Toronto coach Nick Nurse, who spent five years in charge of the team before being fired last spring, cited Jackson as one of his mentors and visited the now-78-year-old near his summer retreat in northern Montana during the summer of 2018, the first year he got the job.

“I get there, we go have a cup of coffee and he says ‘Hop in my truck’ and we drive around the lake for a couple hours,” Nurse said in a 2020 interview with Sportsnet’s Michael Grange. “I’m just kind of sitting there with the windows down going, ‘Wow.’”

After knocking off the Warriors, Rajakovic will have his first chance to coach a game in Los Angeles tomorrow when Toronto takes on the Lakers at 7:30 pm PT/10:30 pm ET.

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