Jackson Announces Return To Lakers
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The wait is over, Lakers fans. You can stop holding your breath now. After much deliberation, Phil Jackson announced Thursday he will return as coach of the Lakers next season.
“Count me in,” said Jackson in a statement released on the Lakers' website. “After a couple weeks of deliberation, it is time to get back to the challenge of putting together a team that can defend its title in the 2010-11 season. It’ll be the last stand for me, and I hope a grand one.”
The announcement came as a bit of a surprise given Jackson's previous statement that he was leaning toward retirement for medical reasons, but it appears the opportunity of a fourth three-peat was too much for him to pass up.
I don't blame him. At the age of 64, he's still relatively young and it goes without saying that he's the best coach in the NBA. You can't argue with 11 championship rings.
Also, who turns down the opportunity to win four three-peats? That would make him the biggest "dynasty" coach in NBA history (if he isn't already).
The terms of Jackson's new contract have not been worked out, according to ESPN.com, but it will reportedly be a one-year deal and Jackson is open to the idea of a pay cut.
According to Lakers sources, the terms of a new deal have not been formally agreed upon, but both sides said a one-year deal would be reached quickly. At the end of the deal, if Jackson changed his mind and wanted to return, the Lakers would again be open to that possibility.
Multiple reports have stated Jackson will take a pay cut this season, but Jackson admitted, "It's still a ridiculous salary, whatever it is," when asked about the projected figure during the Western Conference finals in May.
Kobe Bryant and Co. are sure to be pleased by Jackson's return. They've been lobbying for it since the final buzzer of Game 7.
They're right to want him back, too. In spite of what's going on in free agency right now, Jackson's return makes the Lakers easy favorites to repeat as champions in 2011.
With the Celtics more or less dead and gone, it will be interesting to see who the Lakers' next challenger will be.
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