NBA - Zen master Jackson bids farewell [video]

DALLAS (NBA) - Sunday night brought to an end the illustrious coaching career of Phil Jackson. Unfortunately, the way in which it happened was anything but memorable and fitting for the NBA record 11-time champion.

Jackon's Los Angeles Lakers were annihilated 122-86 by the Dallas Mavericks in Game 4 of the Western Conference semi-finals, bringing to an abrupt end the two-time reigning champions' bid for a three-peat.

The lopsided win saw the Mavs clinch the best-of-seven series 4-0, handing the Zen Master the first sweep of his 20-year coaching career.

Hardly the way one would want to leave, but Jackson had said all season long this was to be his final year and, following Sunday's loss, re-iterated that thought.

"Yes this is the final game that I'll coach. This has been a wonderful run," he said.

"I came back this last year with some trepidation. Kobe's knee was an issue and obviously our team was older.

"The thrill of trying to chase a three-peat is always an exciting thing, but I knew it was a big challenge for this team to three-peat.

Ad the 65-year-old was all too aware of the pitfalls that awaited his team.

"We had gone to the finals and to go back twice and win it after losing in 2008, that puts a lot of strain on a basketball club from all angles - personalities, especially physically and emotionally.

"It was a challenge bigger than we could meet this year."

Jackson's retirement promises to be tough on the Lakers organisation as a whole, and perhaps none more so than on franchise player Kobe Bryant.

"It's tough for me to put into words what he's meant for me," he said.

"I grew up under him. The way I approach things, the way I think about things not only in basketball but in life in general, a lot of it comes from him because I've been around him so much. So it's a little weird for me to think about what next year is going to be like."

Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle paid tribute to Jackson.

"His contributions to our game have been gigantic," he said. "We're talking about the greatest coach in the history of our game."

Carlisle cautioned that the way in which the Lakers lost shouldn't take anything away from Jackson's accomplishment.

"This was a tough series for them but that shouldn't taint what he's done," he added.

Jackson retires as the NBA's most successful coach, having won 11 championships, two more than Boston Celtics legend Red Auerbach.

He led the Chicago Bulls of the Michael Jordan era to six championships in the 1990s, accomplishing a three-peat of titles on two occasions (1991-1993 and 1996-1998).

He left the Bulls in 1998 and, after a one-year hiatus, took on a new challenge, trying to get the Los Angeles Lakers back to their glory days.

With Shaquille O'Neal and Bryant buying into his philosophy and triangle offense, Jackson achieved a third three-peat (2000-2002).

He left the Lakers in 2004 but returned in 2005 and overtook Auerbach's long-standing record of most championships won as a coach (nine) by leading the Lakers to the title in 2009 and 2010.

Check out what Jackson had to say in his last post-game press conference.

FIBA