Though the afterglow will continue indefinitely for redemptive superstar Kobe Bryant, aging gentleman Derek Fisher and the rest of the Lakers, none will savor this championship more thoroughly than Phil Jackson.

As the NBA championship celebration rolled through Los Angeles on Wednesday, for a 15th time as a franchise, Bryant was the man of the moment and Fisher the sentimental favorite. Jackson, however, is being hailed far and wide as the best of all time.

Greatest Coach Ever, at all levels ever known, in every sport ever conceived, since the beginning of time.

Jackson’s 10 championships rank No. 1 among those who have coached/managed the three major American professional sports, ahead of Red Auerbach (NBA, nine), Casey Stengel (MLB, seven) or Chuck Noll (NFL, four). It’s mighty impressive stuff.

But before we fire up Phil’s train to sainthood, let’s consider three factors.

One, Jackson took over the Chicago Bulls as Michael Jordan was establishing himself as the best player in the league, maybe ever.

Two, Jackson arrived in Los Angeles when Shaquille O’Neal was the game’s No. 1 big man and Bryant was on the verge of being the game’s No. 1 “little” man and best overall player.

Three, it is widely accepted that the NBA is a player’s league.

Like a jockey needs a good horse to win, a coach needs good players.

Jackson is a marvelous coach and a learned man. He has an exceptional combination of experience (12 seasons as a player, 12 as a head coach in minor leagues, 20 years as an assistant or head coach in the NBA), signature strategy (Tex Winter’s triangle offense), intellect, passion and serenity. No coach so effectively uses psychology and wit to motivate and inspire.

Coach Cerebral also is the only coach fortunate enough and opportunistic enough to finagle a seat next to Jordan for the cream of MJ’s career, take a year off, and return when the league’s most attractive job became available.

When Jackson showed up in L.A. in 1999, Shaq and Kobe were waiting. So, too, was an $8 million annual contract.

Can you say jackpot?

Don’t get me wrong. I like Phil. He’s an engaging conversationalist, knowledgeable about many topics, with the mellow spirit of a hippie, the restless soul of an activist and the fertile brain of a scientist. I can’t think of a coach more worthy of recommendation.

But please. Would Jackson’s genius be so evident if he did not have clearly the best player of one generation, then clearly the best player of the next generation — in the one major sport where a single player can dramatically alter a team’s trajectory? No other coach, ever, was blessed with such fortuitous timing and luck.

Handed All-Star big man Pau Gasol in 2008, Jackson took the Lakers back to the Finals. With Bryant and Gasol together for a full year, they won it all.

This is not to say Phil is not a fine coach. He is. But the Best Coach Ever? We can’t go there. We can’t conclude he is superior to Bill Walsh or Joe Torre.

We can, however, conclude that Jackson knows gold when he sees it and that he is the Most Accomplished Coach ever. As legacies go, that’s plenty good.