Phil Jackson To Meet With Lakers Again, Decision Expected On Monday
The Los Angeles Lakers won their first game without coach Mike Brown last night but the team isn’t eager to keep interim coach Bernie Bickerstaff at the helm. Phil Jackson met with the team yesterday and is expected to meet with owner Jim Buss again today. Jackson is expected to make a decision about returning to the Lakers as soon as Monday.
According to ESPN, Jackson met with Buss and general manager Mitch Kupchak yesterday to talk about his return to the Lakers. The conversation reportedly included talk about his new salary, the amount of power he’d have to make decisions with the team and possible travel restrictions. Jackson, who left partly because of health reasons, may not travel to all away games.
A source told Yahoo Sports:
“After meeting with Phil Jackson on Saturday, the Los Angeles Lakers are exploring ways to address some of his travel and work concerns to convince him to return for a third stint as their head coach … It is Phil’s job to decline … The real question is does he really want to do this for two more years knowing what he has done and not having any regrets?”
Jackson has more Championship rings than he does fingers and he won’t be coming back to the Lakers unless he thinks the team can challenge for a championship. The team definitely has enough talent on the court and with Jackson sitting on the bench they could certainly be a contender this year.
Kobe Bryant said that he was disappointed with Jackson’s last season since he played most of the season with a sore knee.
“I wasn’t able to give him my real self because I was playing on one leg … It’s always kind of eaten away at me that in the last year of his career … I couldn’t give him everything I had because I was playing on one knee.”
If Phil Jackson does come back, do you think Kobe will be able to find one more Championship ring?
