The Zen Master’s famous rule has predicted NBA champions for 45 years. Denver just missed it. But context is everything.
Phil Jackson didn’t invent the 40-20 rule as a nonsensical hot take. The 11-time champion head coach popularized it because the data backed him up — convincingly.
Since the NBA added the three-point line in 1979, only four champions have won a title after accumulating 20 losses before reaching 40 wins: the 1994-95 Houston Rockets, the 2003-04 Detroit Pistons, the 2005-06 Miami Heat, and the 2020-21 Milwaukee Bucks.