Phil Jackson learned to coach from Red Holzman, and he practiced the craft on Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant.
"Who could have been more fortunate than I am, to have stumbled into this success?" Jackson said Friday night in his induction speech at the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Jackson won nine NBA championships as a coach -- tying Red Auerbach for the record -- and one more as a player. But it was with the Knicks in their championship season of 1969-70, when Jackson was recovering from spinal fusion surgery, that he found his future calling.
Soaking up knowledge from his Hall of Fame mentor, Jackson developed the approach that allowed him to integrate lesser talents into a team with stars like Jordan and O'Neal.
"He treated the superstars and the role players in very much the same manner," said the Lakers' coach, who was using a cane because of offseason surgery to replace his left hip. "Everybody has to be treated with respect. But everybody has to be treated as individuals."
Jackson was inducted into the Springfield shrine on Friday night along with UNC coach Roy Williams; the 1966 NCAA champion Texas Western team; four-time WNBA championship coach Van Chancellor; former NBA referee Mendy Rudolph; and international coaches Pedro Ferrandiz of Spain and Mirko Novosel of Yugoslavia.