NYT: Jackson Would Listen to a Knicks Offer

[boutons]

Jackson Would Listen to a Knicks Offer

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/...s/24knicks.jpg


December 24, 2004
By HOWARD BECK

Phil Jackson's coaching career is on pause, his 10th finger
bare, still waiting for the ring that would complete his
collection.

Friends say he would end his semiretirement for the right
opportunity, for a chance to win a record 10th championship
and break a tie with Red Auerbach. But it might not take
the lure of a ring to return to the bench.

It may only take sentimentality.

Given the right
cir stances, Jackson would embrace a return to New York
to coach the Knicks, the team that drafted him in 1967. And
though he is uneasy talking about a job that is currently
filled by Lenny Wilkens, Jackson cannot deny the intrigue.

"There's a process teams go through to put themselves in a
compe ive place," Jackson said in a telephone interview.
"And when they get to that position, I felt like if they
want me to coach that team, I'd have to listen to them,
because of my connections in New York and my connections as
a Knick. But I certainly don't want to step in and muddy
the water around Lenny Wilkens. He's a great coach. I'm
very respectful of him."

This is at least the second time Jackson has acknowledged
interest in coaching the Knicks since leaving the Los
Angeles Lakers after last season. In October, he told The
New York Post that he would listen if the Knicks called.
But he has been careful not to lobby openly for the job,
and he has no plans to return to the N.B.A. this season.

"They have one of the great coaches in the game at their
helm right now," Jackson said, referring to Wilkens.

At age 59, Jackson is enjoying the second sabbatical of his
14-year N.B.A. coaching career. He took a year off after
leaving the Chicago Bulls in 1998, then joined the Lakers
in June 1999.

Jackson knew then that he would coach again. This time,
nothing is certain, although friends say he has already
grown restless with his low-key life in Playa Del Rey,
Calif.

"I haven't reached the point yet where I feel the drive,"
Jackson said of coaching. "But I anticipate that's a
possibility before this year is up. The internal spark of
energy or light is there, to get back on this and drive a
bunch of young men toward a championship or toward
winning."

Jackson has a career record of 832-316, and owns the best
career winning percentage for the regular season (.725) and
the playoffs (.717).

Jackson is planning a two-month trip through New Zealand
and the South Pacific. "I'm hoping I get carried away in
paradise," he said. "Learn the hula and how to scuba dive."


He says he will consider his next move when he returns,
sometime in March. With his book tour over, he now spends
his days working out and taking it easy.

"I'm pretty much finding adventure every day," he said.
"It's wonderful. I'm really enjoying the free time."

If he returns to the N.B.A., Jackson wants to coach a team
that has a chance to contend for a championship within a
few years. He ruled out any wholesale-rebuilding efforts.

"It has to be a challenge," he said. "The team that has a
glimmer of hope, that has potential, where you have a
challenge that's out there and an opportunity, I think is
what every coach wants. You want to think you have an
opportunity to win."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/24/sp...f5b76e45a06e91

---------------------------------

Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company

[50 cent]

"There's a process teams go through to put themselves in a
compe ive place," Jackson said in a telephone interview.
"And when they get to that position, I felt like if they
want me to coach that team, I'd have to listen to them,
because of my connections in New York and my connections as
a Knick.

What a in !

Paraphrasing: "If they can actually get good and maybe a player or 2 like Mike, Shaq, or Kobe that I feel will allow me to back into the record, then I would gladly love to improve my image with another easy job."