IS PHIL JACKSON GOING TO BE DONE IN BY ANOTHER CHEAPASS OWNER?

PHIL JACKSON

For the first time this season, Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson has indicated he may not be back with the club next year. Chris Sheridan of ESPN.com managed to get some insight into The Zen Master for a piece he wrote over the weekend.

Apparently, having been burned by Jerry Reinsdorf in the past, Jackson is still leery of owners for whom he’s won multiple championships going cheap and showing him the door. Even ones with whom he’s sleeping with their daughter.

The Lakers won a championship last season and are poised for a repeat. They are currently a league best 21-4. Jackson has more rings and won more championships as a coach (10) than anyone in the history of the league. Lest anyone forget, the last time Jackson took off from the Lakers, in 2005, the team was a pathetic 34-48 (that was the year a self-obsessed Kobe Bryant scored 84 and eventually demanded to be traded.) Jackson returned to the Lakers and, not coincidentally, order was restored. Championships were won. The last man not named Phil Jackson to coach the Lakers was Frank Hamblen. He went 10-29. That’s a winnin percentage of .256.

Why in God’s name would the Lakers even THINK of letting Jackson go? Money. Jackson makes $12 million a year. Bryant will make $25 million in 2010-11. He is in line for a $90 million contract extension. Pau Gasol  is also reportedly close to signing a big-money three year contract extension.

Jackson points out “people are cutting cost” around the league. He says of the Lakers,

“They may not even want to hire me. They may want to save some money.”

 

Make no mistake. Despite having the NBA’s highest payroll, Lakers owner Jerry Buss is looking to save money. There are rumors that Buss has incurred “substantial” gambling losses.  More tangible was an article in the L.A. Business Journal which points out that Buss has recently sold his hockey team, his $3.8 million coin collection, his ranch and his Beverly Hills mansion. All in an effort to raise much needed cash.

 

DR. JERRY BUSS: IS HIS BEING SUCH A BAD POKER PLAYER GOING TO COST THE LAKERS PHIL JACKSON?

T.J. SIMERS GOADS PHIL JACKSON INTO DROPPING F-BOMB

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PHIL JACKSON CALLS HYPOCRISY: RIPS NBA FOR ALLOWING CASINO ADS

PHIL JACKSON: ZEN AND THE ART OF CASINO GAMBLING

Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson ripped the NBA Wednesday for what he perceives as hypocrisy by the league. The Lakers were playing in New Orleans. Jackson pointed out how hypocritical it is for the NBA to decry gambling so strongly then allow ads for a casino (Harrah’s) in the New Orleans Arena. According to Jackson, this obviously sends mixed messages.

 

HORNETS OWNER GEORGE SHINN: “GOOD CHRISTIAN LEADER” AND ACCUSED RAPIST

Jackson also used the subject to take a shot at Hornets owner George Shinn who the Zenmaster mockingly referred to as “a good Christian leader.” Jackson said he was sure Shinn “knows what he’s doing” taking casino advertising pointing out the Hornets owner leads prayer sessions before games. Left unsaid by Jackson was the sex scandal that Shinn was involved with while the team was located in Charlotte. At one point in that case, Shinn was accused of rape. Outraged taxpayers refused to give Shinn any public money for a new arena. That forced the club’s move to New Orleans.

Shinn is obviously comfortable taking money from Harrah’s. Besides, it’s not like casino gambling is the only vice that the NBA and the Hornets are profiting from. The NBA and the Hornets make money from smoking:

 

OFFICIAL NBA ZIPPO LIGHTER

 

And, of course, drinking:

 

 

The league even allows Harrah’s to sell “official” NBA poker chips:

 

LAKERS SET TO OPEN TRAINING CAMP WITH LAMAR ODOM QUESTIONING PHIL JACKSON’S SANITY

LAMAR ODOM AT LAKERS MEDIA DAY ON MONDAY

Training camp hasn’t even officially opened yet for the Los Angeles Lakers and we may already have the quote of the year.

Fresh off his team’s humiliation at the hands of the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals, Lakers coach Phil Jackson is considering tinkering with the club’s starting lineup. Jackson wants to go big, pairing Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum at center and power forward. He is also contemplating moving Lamar Odom into the role of “sixth man.”

Odom’s reaction to the LA Times about being informed second-hand of Jackson’s plan was AWESOME:

 

 

“He must have woke up and bumped his head. He probably hit his head on something — boom,” Odom said about Jackson. “To start off like that, you’ve got to be out of your #@* mind.”

PHIL JACKSON