Greatest Coach Ever, at all levels ever known, in every sport ever conceived, since the beginning of time.

Jackson's 10 championships rank No. 1 among those who have coached/managed the three major American professional sports, ahead of Red Auerbach (NBA, nine), Casey Stengel (MLB, seven) or Chuck Noll (NFL, four). It's mighty impressive stuff.

But before we fire up Phil's train to sainthood, let's consider three factors.

One, Jackson took over the Chicago Bulls as Michael Jordan was establishing himself as the best player in the league, maybe ever.

Two, Jackson arrived in Los Angeles when Shaquille O'Neal was the game's No. 1 big man and Bryant was on the verge of being the game's No. 1 "little" man and best overall player.

Three, it is widely accepted that the NBA is a player's league. Like a jockey needs a good horse to win, a coach needs good players.

Jackson is a marvelous coach and a learned man. He has an exceptional combination of experience (12 seasons as a player, 12 as a head coach in minor leagues, 20 years as an assistant or head coach in the NBA), signature strategy (Tex Winter's triangle offense), intellect, passion and serenity. No coach so effectively uses psychology and wit to motivate and inspire.

Coach Cerebral also is the only coach fortunate enough and opportunistic enough to finagle a seat next to Jordan for the cream of MJ's career, take a year off, and return when the league's most attractive job became available.

When Jackson showed up in L.A. in 1999, Shaq and Kobe were waiting. So, too, was an $8 million annual contract.

Can you say jackpot?

Don't get me wrong. I like Phil. He's an engaging conversationalist, knowledgeable about many topics, with the mellow spirit of a hippie, the restless soul of an activist and the fertile brain of a scientist. I can't think of a coach more worthy of recommendation.

But please. Would Jackson's genius be so evident if he did not have clearly the best player of one generation, then clearly the best player of the next generation in the one major sport where a single player can dramatically alter a team's trajectory?

No other coach, ever, was blessed with such fortuitous timing and luck.

Jackson's six championships in Chicago were interrupted when Jordan left the NBA for the better part of two seasons. In neither of those years did the Bulls advance past the second round.

The Bulls recovered in 1995-96 to win the first of three more titles. After sinking the game-winning shot in the '98 Finals, MJ saw it as the perfect time to retire.

Guess who followed Jordan out the door?

Jackson sat out a year. Having won two championships as a player with the Knicks and six more coaching the Bulls, he was content. Not yet 55, he was a confirmed success.

But how does a man of such considerable talent and ego decline the best job in sports?

With the Lakers having gone all of a decade without a title, Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss reached out to Phil in 1999. There was young Shaq, with seven consecutive top-10 finishes in the MVP voting. And Kobe, only 21 but entering his fourth season. This is what is referred to as an impressive foundation.

O'Neal and Bryant delivered three titles before Lakers management sent Shaq to Miami.

Guess who followed Shaq out the door?

Jackson took a year off, returned to the Lakers and coached them to successive first-round playoff exits.

Handed All-Star big man Pau Gasol in 2008, Jackson took the Lakers back to the finals. With Bryant and Gasol together for a full year, they won it all.

This is not to say Phil is not a fine coach. He is. But the Best Coach Ever? We can't go there. We can't conclude he is superior to Bill Walsh or Joe Torre.

We can, however, conclude that Jackson knows gold when he sees it and that he is the Most Accomplished Coach ever. As legacies go, that's plenty good.

Contact Monte Poole at mpoole@bayareanewsgroup.com