Utah Jazz and Phil Jackson

So Phil Jackson is claiming he has coached his final NBA game. The most successful coach in league history — 11 championships — will fade into the sunset.

Should Jazz fans be crying? No, but they should at least be paying attention. Their nemesis is gone.

Jackson told reporters after Sunday’s playoff-ending loss that “I go out with a sour note after being fined $35,000 this morning by the league (for remarks about officiating), so that’s not fun having a feeling like I’m being chased down a freeway by them. But, as Richard Nixon says, ‘You won’t be able to kick this guy around anymore.’ “

Likewise, the Jazz won’t have Jackson to kick them around anymore. His teams eliminated them from the playoffs five times. The first two were in 1997 and 1998, when his Chicago Bulls beat the Jazz in the NBA Finals. His Lakers eliminated the Jazz in 2008, 2009 and 2010. His Lakers won 12 of 15 playoff games against the Jazz, including all eight games in L.A.

I can’t say that I know Jackson, though I’ve been in numerous interview groups with him, large and small. And while Jazz fans despised him, I never minded him. OK, he could be condescending, but I’ll take him any day over prickly Gregg Popovich of San Antonio. At the same time, there are a lot of coaches who get their point across without talking down to others (Nate McMillan, Flip Saunders, Kurt Rambis, Byon Scott, Doc Rivers, Avery Johnson).

He called Sacramento a cowtown and the LDS religion a cult.

OK, almost nobody was as condescending as Jackson.

Still, he had a gift for steering stars without reining them in too much. That’s not as easy as it looks. (Witness Jerry Sloan’s problems with Deron Williams.)

Jackson’s departure — if indeed he does stay retired — marks the end of an era. An era in which the Jazz always came up short. The frustrating part for Jazz fans? Just as the Lakers imploded, the Jazz weren’t around in the post-season to watch.