Los Angeles Lakers: 10 greatest Christmas Day moments, performances

2. Phil Jackson’s milestone

When listing the greatest coaches in NBA history, Phil Jackson is always mentioned. The Zen Master coached 11 NBA Championship teams, the most in NBA history. He also the only coach to win multiple championships with multiple teams.

Given how much his teams won, it should come as no surprise that Jackson was very successful on Christmas Day as well. He won 11 games on Christmas Day, which is tied with Dr. Jack Ramsay for the most wins. The most special of those wins came in 2008 when Jackson picked up his 1,000th career coaching victory.

The Lakers defeated their hated rivals, the Boston Celtics, 92-83 that Christmas Day. Jackson was a mainstay on the sidelines on Christmas Day, coaching almost every year from 1990 until his retirement at the end of the 2010-11 season. The only years he missed were 1995, when the 72-10 Chicago Bulls did not play and 2004, when Jackson took a one-year hiatus from coaching.

When you win as much as Jackson does, and are coaching superstars such as Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, you are going to get your fair share of nationally televised games. More often than not, he had his team ready to go to win games.