For the past few weeks Phil Jackson, has been reveling in the role of peace disturber. In promoting his new book “Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success,” Jackson has been strategically revealing somewhat controversial but interesting anecdotes here and there about his former players like Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan to garner some interest.
In a recent interview on The Dan Patrick Show, the former Chicago Bulls head coach, revealed something that had been speculated but never confirmed about his courtship with the Los Angeles Lakers, earlier in the season concerning their at the time, vacant head coaching position.
DP: Were you offered the job?
PJ: I would say yes to the answer and the question. It was proposed to me without any hesitation. They wanted to hear me out and I wanted to hear them out.
DP: What happened 11th hour? Do you know all the details behind the scenes? They were waiting for your answer? Is that fair?
PJ: Yeah, I would say that’s fair. Obviously at the end of the process, Mitch Kupchak had asked to come along with Jim Buss, and at the end of the process Mitch said you know I’m going to have to continue interviewing people for the job. If you turn this down I have to be prepared to move on.
And according to Lakers Nation, Jackson went on to say that he wasn’t expecting Mike D’Antoni to be a candidate for the position, as he had been recovering from knee surgery.
So I guess that should curtail the speculation surrounding that topic, the Lakers offered Jackson the job and then unexpectedly took it away. I mean I can understand why Jackson would feel he had no real competition for the job and therefore could take his time, he did win five titles with the organization.
I bet Lakers Nation won’t enjoy this news, they’ve been clamoring for him to return since Mike Brown was fired and it will be disappointing for them to know that it was almost a reality. That must’ve been a blow to his ego.