When it comes to great Los Angeles Lakers coaches, the two who are always brought up first are Phil Jackson and Pat Riley, and rightfully so. They are two of the greatest coaches in the history of the NBA and have more than their fair share of accolades.
It makes sense then, that in accomplishing one of his record milestones, Jackson had to surpass Riley. That had the chance to come to fruition on Christmas Day in 2008, as Jackson had the opportunity to become the quickest coach to ever win 1,000 games.
Standing in his way of doing so however, were the Boston Celtics who, not only defeated the Lakers in the previous year’s NBA Finals, but were riding high on a 19-game winning streak and came in with a 27-2 record.