Phil Jackson Reportedly Not Interested in Returning to Coach in NBA

The Brooklyn Nets—or any other NBA team, for that matter—won't be landing their dream candidate.

Not long after interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo was shown the door, rumors began to swirl about the Nets going after Phil Jackson as a potential replacement (h/t ESPN). 

The New York Post's Tim Bontemps quickly put a cork in that idea, however:

This isn't exactly surprising.

In April, ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne and Marc Stein reported that Jackson, an 11-time NBA champion with the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers, was “itching” to return to the league in some sort of capacity.

This news reinforces what many already believed: Jackson wants to work in a front-office capacity, not directly on the sideline.

That’s unfortunate for the Nets and several other teams in the market for a new head coach. The Zen Master is one of the greatest basketball strategists of all time and has the impressive resume to back it up. Moreover, his ability to get stars to gel and work together as a cohesive unit was an attribute that undoubtedly attracted a team as talented as the Nets.

Alas, Jackson isn’t interested in coaching. Instead, he’s ready to conquer a barrier he hasn’t already bulldozed 11 times.

While he has no experience with an actual front-office job, there little question that Jackson has the basketball mind necessary to evaluate talent and make the right player-personnel decisions. If he is truly interested in returning to the NBA, it won’t take long for a team to call him up and offer him a job.

Just don't expect it to be a head-coaching one.