Sure, the book he signed up for Twitter to promote is called "Eleven Rings," but legendary NBA coach/Detroit Pistons consultant Phil Jackson actually has 13 rings — 11 earned directing the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers, and two recognizing his work as a defensive-minded reserve forward on the 1970 and 1973 New York Knicks.
For many NBA types, rings won as a player would represent the pinnacle of achievement in the sport; in Jackson's case, though, they serve as sort of a precursor and accent mark to the story of his later coaching accomplishments. As such — and also because they aren't quite as flashy as what came later — it seems like we don't often see Jackson sporting the rings he won on the floor. One Zen Master Twitter follower wondered what they looked like:
@philjackson11 Phil can you post a picture of your two Knicks championship rings? I've never seen a picture of them.
— Sean (@sthomas141) May 14, 2013
Jackson, now throwing himself wholeheartedly into social media, was happy to oblige, and do so in a pretty perfectly Phil way:
"here’s the best I can do…the 2 Knick rings are in the front of the picture," Jackson tweeted.
"The best I can do" is fantastic — like, "I've tried everything to get these other 11 rings out of the frame, but they just won't budge, and also I'm not that good at using my cameraphone. Oh, well, I guess I'll just have to show you all 13. Sorry."
Alternatively:
"Hey, Phil, do you have five bucks I can borrow?"
"Hmm. Well, here's the best I can do — just grab that fiver in the front of this Scrooge McDuck-esque treasure heap."
"Um ... thanks?"
It's pretty rad that Jackson's willing to share this sort of stuff with his Twitter followers. It's also pretty great that he won't pass up even a small opportunity to remind us that he's got enough jewelry to put The Mandarin to shame. The lesson, as always: If you've got it, flaunt it, even when only asked for one or two of "it."
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