Editing Triangle offense (section)

==NBA==
{{rquote|right|The Triangle offense has been, pretty much irrefutably, the single most dominant offensive attack (in any major sport) of the past 20 years.|[[Chuck Klosterman]] in ''[[Grantland]]'', 2012<ref name="klosterman20120118">{{cite news |url=http://grantland.com/features/chuck-klosterman-phil-jackson-tex-winter-death-triangle-offense/ |title=What Ever Happened to the Triangle Offense? |work=Grantland |date=2012-01-18 |access-date=27 February 2015 |author=Klosterman, Chuck |archive-date=2020-11-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201118112410/http://grantland.com/features/chuck-klosterman-phil-jackson-tex-winter-death-triangle-offense/ |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

Head coach [[Phil Jackson]], with help from assistant coach [[Tex Winter]], won 11 [[NBA Finals]] with the triangle offense. Jackson coached the Bulls from 1989–1998. He next served as the head coach of the Lakers twice, first from 1999–2004, and then from 2005–2011. The [[Chicago Bulls]] under Jackson won six championships in the 1990s playing in the triangle. His first three title-winning teams in Chicago featured superstars [[Michael Jordan]] and [[Scottie Pippen]]. Jackson's later three titles with the Bulls came with Jordan, Pippen, and [[Dennis Rodman]]. Jackson's [[Los Angeles Lakers]] won five championships employing the triangle. His first three Lakers championship squads fielded superstars [[Shaquille O'Neal]] and [[Kobe Bryant]], while his last two title teams saw him pair Bryant with fellow All-Star [[Pau Gasol]].

Winter initially wanted to teach the triangle offense to [[Doug Collins (basketball)|Doug Collins]], who the Bulls hired as head coach ahead of the [[1986–87 Chicago Bulls season|1986–87 season]]. However, Collins refused and instead he implemented an isolation-heavy offense centered around Jordan's scoring abilities. Collins even went as far as banishing Winter to the end of the Bulls bench. Despite a conference finals appearance in the [[1989 NBA playoffs|1989 playoffs]], Bulls general manager [[Jerry Krause]] fired Collins after the playoffs due to his refusal to adopt Winter's system.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.si.com/nba/bulls/old-school/the-impact-of-tex-winters-triangle-offense|title=The impact of Tex Winter's triangle offense|magazine=Sports Illustrated|date=2 April 2023 |access-date=6 April 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.foxsports.com.au/basketball/nba/mj-thought-it-was-fing-bulls-at-first-the-triangle-nearly-tore-chicago-apart-before-it-worked/news-story/8074ad5068cbfbf1ccc8e327ae5ff9d2|title=MJ thought it was 'f***ing bulls***' at first. The 'Triangle' nearly tore Chicago apart before it worked|website=Fox Sports Australia|date=27 April 2020 |access-date=6 April 2024}}</ref>

When Jackson became the head coach of the Chicago Bulls before the start of the 1989–1990 NBA season, he and Winter originally installed the triangle offense in an attempt to subvert the [[Jordan Rules]] strategy employed by their Eastern Conference rivals, the [[Detroit Pistons]].<ref name="rules">{{cite web|url=http://www.answers.com/topic/jordan-rules|title=The Jordan Rules|publisher=answers.com|access-date=2009-08-06|archive-date=2020-11-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201118112452/https://www.answers.com/search?q=jordan-rules|url-status=live}}</ref>{{unreliable source|certain=yes|date=May 2025}} The "Jordan Rules" was a defensive strategy which consisted of solely targeting Michael Jordan. Jordan had already established himself as an elite NBA superstar by single-handedly turning Chicago into a playoff contender. However, by sharing responsibility rather than shouldering it, he continued to blossom as a great all-around basketball player. More importantly, the Bulls also improved notably as a team, finishing with a 55–27 record.<ref name="triangle">{{cite web|url=http://www.answers.com/topic/1989-90-chicago-bulls-season|title=1989-90 Chicago Bulls season|publisher=answers.com|access-date=2009-08-06|archive-date=2020-11-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201118112418/https://www.answers.com/search?q=1989-90-chicago-bulls-season|url-status=live}}</ref>{{unreliable source|certain=yes|date=May 2025}} The Bulls fell to the Pistons in 7 games in the 1990 Eastern Conference Finals. The following year, however, Chicago finished the 1990–1991 NBA season with a then-franchise best 61–21 record, good for first place in the East, then swept the archrival Pistons 4–0 in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals. The Bulls then defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in the [[NBA Finals]], four games to one. Michael Jordan won his second [[NBA Most Valuable Player Award]] that season and won his first championship.

The triangle offense was used very effectively by the Bulls during the 1995–96 season. Jordan, back at the helm for the team in his first full season since coming out of retirement, won his fourth NBA MVP award. He also finished the season as the league's leading scorer for the 8th time. The Bulls recorded a then NBA-record 72–10<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nba.com/warriors/gameday/20160413/recap|title=Warriors End Regular Season in Record-Breaking Fashion - Golden State Warriors|website=nba.com|access-date=10 April 2018|archive-date=18 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201118112438/https://www.nba.com/warriors/gameday/20160413/recap|url-status=live}}</ref> season en route to what was then their fourth NBA championship. Jackson won his first (and only) [[NBA Coach of the Year Award]] for his efforts during his team's record-breaking season. Overall, the Bulls won six NBA titles during the 1990s, and the team is considered to be one of the NBA's greatest dynasties.

Jackson installed the triangle offense again when he started coaching the Lakers in the 1999–2000 season, with Winter once again serving as an assistant on his staff. This time, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant served as the focal points of the team's offense. O'Neal won the NBA MVP Award in 2000, and Bryant rose to prominence as one of the NBA's newest stars. The Lakers became an elite NBA team during Jackson's first term as their coach, making four NBA Finals appearances in five years and winning three straight championships from 2000–2002. At the end of the 2004 Finals, which resulted in losing to the Detroit Pistons, his contract was not renewed. Jackson returned to the Lakers as head coach starting in the 2005–2006 season. Despite the presence of Bryant as the centerpiece of the team, the Lakers could not get past the first round of the playoffs in 2006 or 2007. However, the team acquired versatile forward Pau Gasol from the [[Memphis Grizzlies]] during the 2008 season. With Bryant and Gasol running the triangle offense, the Lakers made the NBA Finals three straight times and won in 2009 and 2010. In the process, Jackson surpassed [[Red Auerbach]]'s record of most titles won by an NBA coach.

When Phil Jackson retired as a head coach at the end of the 2010–2011 season, he finished his career with over 1000 victories over the course of his coaching career, regular season and playoff games combined. Jackson, Jordan, Pippen, Rodman, O'Neal, Bryant and Gasol are all [[Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame|Hall of Famers]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gleeson |first1=Scott |title=kobe-bryant-inducted-into-pro-basketball-hall-fame-2020 |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2020/01/27/kobe-bryant-inducted-into-pro-basketball-hall-fame-2020/4588760002/ |website=USA Today |access-date=14 February 2020 |archive-date=18 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201118112446/https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2020/01/27/kobe-bryant-inducted-into-pro-basketball-hall-fame-2020/4588760002/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Tex Winter earned induction into the Hall of Fame in 2011 for his contributions to basketball involving the triangle offense. He was an assistant for both the Bulls and Lakers on the first nine of Jackson's 11 championship teams, and served as a consultant to the Lakers on the final two.{{cn|date=April 2017}}

Several other coaches, some of whom were either Jackson's former players or assistant coaches, tried to implement the triangle with varying degrees of success. In 1996, former Jackson assistant [[Jim Cleamons]] took over as head coach of the [[Dallas Mavericks]], but only lasted until early in the 1997–98 season, when general manager [[Don Nelson]] fired him. Cleamons' triangle failed to click with the Mavericks' players, and after Nelson became head coach, the team abandoned it in favor of his [[Nellie Ball]] offense. Similarly, in 1993, [[Quinn Buckner]] tried to implement the triangle without success during his brief coaching career in Dallas, finishing his lone season with a 13–69 record.

After [[Tim Floyd]] replaced Jackson as Bulls head coach in 1998, he was asked by general manager Jerry Krause to use the triangle offense, and even retained Winter as an assistant for one season. However, Krause had infamously dismantled the championship team, and an inexperienced Bulls squad finished with only a 13–37 record in the lockout-shortened 1999 season. This was followed by a 17–65 record in the 1999–2000 season, and a 15–67 record in the 2000–01 season. Floyd resigned early in the 2001–02 season, and abandoned the triangle in favor of the [[Princeton offense]] during his lone season coaching the [[New Orleans Hornets]] in the 2003–04 season. 

Floyd's successor, [[Bill Cartwright]], continued to use the triangle during his three seasons with the Bulls. However, Cartwright was fired early in the 2003–04 season, and at this time, the Bulls were now under [[John Paxson]] as general manager. Paxson soon hired [[Scott Skiles]], who promptly abandoned the triangle in favor of a more defensive-oriented, low-scoring style similar to the Detroit Pistons of the era. 

Another former Jackson assistant, [[Kurt Rambis]], tried using the triangle without success during his brief two-year stint with the [[Minnesota Timberwolves]] from 2009 to 2011. In 2014, former Bulls player [[Steve Kerr]] began using a hybrid triangle upon joining the [[Golden State Warriors]] as head coach, mixing in certain aspects of [[run and gun (basketball)|run and gun]] and [[small ball (basketball)|small ball]] to huge success. Kerr has so far coached the Warriors to four NBA championships between 2015 and 2022.

In 2014, Jackson joined the [[New York Knicks]] as president of basketball operations, and hired former Laker [[Derek Fisher]] as the head coach in hopes of installing the triangle offense. However, the Knicks failed to finish with a winning season. Nor did the team make the playoffs in each of Jackson's three seasons. Fisher's tenure lasted until midway through the 2015–16 season, after which he was fired and replaced by [[Kurt Rambis]] for the remainder of the season. [[Jeff Hornacek]] took over as the Knicks head coach for the 2016-2017 season, but he, too, couldn't deliver a winning season for the Knicks. 

The triangle offense, while successful during Jackson's legendary coaching career, has proved to be less effective in comparison to modern NBA offenses, which place more emphasis on perimeter shooting and player versatility. This is due in large part to the increased efficiency of the 3-point shot. In addition, players' improving 3-point proficiency and range provides much of the floor spacing that is one of the hallmarks of the triangle. It also did not help that Knicks players, especially [[Carmelo Anthony]], were reluctant to learn the offense, and lacked the necessary discipline and patience to run the triangle. Jackson was dismissed after the 2016–17 season.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Barry |first1=Dan |title=The Triangle Offense, a Simple Yet Perplexing System, Dies|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/28/sports/basketball/triangle-offense-new-york-knicks.html |website=The New York Times |date=29 June 2017 |access-date=27 November 2021}}</ref>