Los Angeles Lakers: 10 Teams Phil Jackson Might Join If He Coaches Again
Los Angeles Lakers' coach Phil Jackson has done this before.
I'm talking about the Zen Master's frequent threats to retire from coaching. Once, he followed through and retired. The next time, he vowed to retire and proceeded to sign a new contract two days later. Then, after winning his 11th title last year, he announced that he wouldn't be back for 2010-2011.
Guess what? He signed on for one more year.
Should we really believe that Phil is going to ride off into the Montana sunset at the end of this Laker season, or is history an accurate barometer that he'll be back?
This truly might be the end for Jackson, but that coaching bug will certainly hit him shortly into retirement.
If Phil Jackson retires, then flirts with a comeback to the bench, here are 10 teams he might consider joining.
Atlanta Hawks
1 of 10
The Atlanta Hawks have one of the top rosters in the league, but can never break into the conversation of championship contenders.
The reasons are clear: immaturity, undefined hierarchy and failure in critical moments.
Phil Jackson can solve all of these problems to improve the Hawks.
Overall, the Hawks don't exude the maturity that is necessary to beat good teams in a seven game series. They have not had the discipline, execution and toughness to win in the playoffs, this year's first round excepted.
Another problem is that the Hawks don't have an alpha dog. Joe Johnson just got his max contract and scores the most, but has he seized control of leadership on this team? Josh Smith is a follower, not a leader. Al Horford seems content to defer to his teammates. The Hawks need a consistent leader, someone who isn't afraid to get in his teammates' faces and rally them. It seems like they all just go out and play and will be fine with whatever the outcome is.
Every time the Hawks have had an opportunity to do something big or make a key advance in the postseason, they've choked. Last year, they were swept by Orlando in the East Semis, never losing by less than 14. Two years ago, the outcome was the same, to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Before that, they lost to the eventual champion Boston Celtics in game seven of the first round series.
The Hawks continually shrink in the biggest moments. Phil has coached in more of these situations than anyone ever. Don't you think he could devise a way for the Hawks to figure it out and break through?
The Hawks are an established player in the East with no surprises. Looking back over Jackson's career, his MO is to coach high-caliber players who are in their prime. He doesn't develop raw, young players (except in the rare case of Kobe Bryant). Jackson has a group of All-Stars hovering around their primes, which makes the Hawks a favorable situation for his coaching experience.
Los Angeles Clippers
2 of 10
Fast forward to 2014. Phil Jackson has closely followed the Clippers over the last two seasons as they've slowly jelled and matured into a playoff contender. Donald Sterling was recently embalmed to his courtside seat. Vinny Del Negro has stopped staring at his dry-erase board like he's trying to translate the Dead Sea Scrolls during timeouts. DeAndre Jordan just finished his autobiography. Cars in LA don as many Clipper window flags as Lakers. Gradually, they've improved from 32, to 38, then 43 wins behind MVP finalists Blake Griffin and Eric Gordon.
Phil is intrigued, to say the least. He's very familiar with LA. Most of the painstaking leg work has been done to improve the Clips.
They just need somebody to push them off the ledge and jump into the West's upper crust.
Vinny Del Negro isn't the guy to do that. At least not yet.
Phoenix Suns
3 of 10
Who better to oversee the post-Steve Nash rebuilding of the Phoenix Suns than Phil Jackson?
There is no better time to hit the reset button on the Suns' fast-breaking system than right as Nash is leaving.
Phil could accelerate the rebuilding process in Phoenix by years if given the right players in his triangle offense. The Suns would have to make moves to acquire a big point guard, an alpha dog and a legitimate big man, but they'll have the cap space to do that within two years.
Phil has never presided over a rebuilding team, but the opportunity for him to coach in a warm-weather environment could bring back the fans that owner Robert Sarver drove away with his cheapness and bad management a few years ago.
Milwaukee Bucks
4 of 10
The Milwaukee Bucks are only one year removed from showing the NBA how good they can be.
They finished with a 29-12 second half to grab the sixth seed in the East before losing in seven games to Atlanta. Andrew Bogut naturally missed 13 games, but the team worked around that to find success.
The Bucks faltered this season, but still have the framework for a competitive team. Brandon Jennings is still developing as a young point guard, Bogut is a top five center when healthy and there is a bevy of talent at the forward positions.
The Bucks play defense as well as any team in the league, but their offense is sluggish. They ranked last in the NBA in scoring and assists. Fortunately, Phil Jackson is an offensive whiz with a treasure trove of experience to make the Bucks more efficient.
Scott Skiles, a defensive coach, is of no further need to Milwaukee because the defense is already so strong. They can afford to trade some of that defense to make the offense siginifcantly better.
Jackson is the right man for that task.
New York Knicks
5 of 10
Knicks fans are surely in an uproar over their coaching situation after New York stupidly gave away at least one game in Boston's first round sweep.
Mike D'Antoni reaffirmed what many already concluded about his late-game mismanagement, which was startling to me.
After seeing it, however, the conclusion was unmistakable: The Knicks were going nowhere as long as D'Antoni is coaching them up.
How apropos would it be for Phil Jackson to return to New York, where he resided during his playing career, to coach ready-made superstars? The team is built like his current Laker team: a few good role players surrounding the unquestioned superstar(s).
Phil Jackson is one of the only coaches we've ever seen who is capable of handling and motivating superstars to play with and empower their teammates.
That is what New York needs right now.
Houston Rockets
6 of 10
Rick Adelman was curiously let go after doing a brilliant job with half of a roster this season. When Kyle Lowry, Chase Budinger and Chuck Hayes are in your top seven in minutes played, you're not working with a viable set of players.
Guiding Houston to 43-39 in the brutal Southwest Division is among the most impressive accomplishments of any coach this season.
At any rate, Adelman is gone and General Manager Darryl Morey is in the process of interviewing candidates for the job. Dwayne Casey, Kelvin Sampson, Jack Sikma and Frank Vogel are among the hopefuls for the job. Even Sam Cassell drew an interview. This isn't a Mount Rushmore of coaching, so why not bring in Jackson to blow them all out of the water and guarantee that the team improves?
The Rockets do have players. Kevin Martin and Luis Scola are world class at what they do. Yao Ming, if he re-signs and is healthy, is an elite center. The Rockets are competitive now, but have the potential for so much more.
As stable an organization as any in the NBA, this would be the right mix of reclamation and competitive ability to lure Jackson.
Utah Jazz
7 of 10
The Utah Jazz are quiet on the surface as always, but in turmoil underneath. Jerry Sloan was so fed up with Deron Williams (and the rest of the team presumably) that he couldn't wait until the end of his 23rd season to resign.
For an organization so used to continuity, all the recent change is foreign and uncomfortable to the Jazz.
This is why the present time is opportune for Phil Jackson to take over a team whose style resembles that which he employs: slow-down and set-driven.
Besides, is anyone kidding themselves that interim coach Tyrone Corbin is the solution to Utah's glaring problems? No, I don't think so.
The only one who can withstand the pressure and looming shadow of Jerry Sloan is Phil Jackson.
New Jersey Nets
8 of 10
The New Jersey Nets should be considered a viable darkhorse in any potential race for Phil Jackson for four reasons.
- New management/arena: Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov bought the team last year and hasn't stopped making plans to improve it since. He has a ton of money to infuse into the once-decrepit franchise in efforts to make it better quickly. He doesn't seem to know much about America or basketball, but he is committed to his investment.
- Move to Brooklyn: Phil would much rather be in Brooklyn on a re-branded team without having to travel to the boonies of East Rutherford 41 times a year. The same is true for potential free agents, making the Nets significantly more attractive of a destination.
- Deron Williams: D-Will is a big point guard who is a legitimate primary scorer. The big guard who can score and handle is the prototypical Triangle player, which Phil has sought after for almost a decade now. Derek Fisher isn't ideal, nor were the few point guards before him.
- Concerted efforts to improve: The Nets are shaking up their roster, tinkering with players and freeing up cap space to make an aggressive run at free agency the next two summers. There are so many stagnant teams in the NBA that it seems the few who noticeably improve are few and far between. Jackson will be more likely to take over a team that at least has a shot at the playoffs instead of the 10th seed.
Los Angeles Lakers
9 of 10
This one is easy.
The Lakers owe Phil Jackson everything. There's no doubt in my mind that if he retires and the Lakers promote assistant Brian Shaw to the head job, they'd find a way to make the switch legitimately should PJ want his seat back.
Many think that this will not be Phil's last year for the Lakers, though all signs point to that being true. Their reasoning hinges on the looming stoppage of the next NBA season.
If the NBA owners and the Players Association can't strike a timely accord on a Collective Bargaining Agreement, up to half the season could be lost, as it was in 1999. Phil, who has grown weary of traveling and the grind of a full season, would find a season shortened by up to half very palatable, and could simply return to coach half of a season and a playoff run.
We all know that Phil is only interested in rings at this point, so why wouldn't this scenario make sense?
Orlando Magic
10 of 10
If the Orlando Magic somehow lock down a happy Dwight Howard to a long-term deal, this could be an option for Phil Jackson.
The Magic are clearly a cut or two below the league's elite teams and, aside from what now seems to be a fluky 2009 win over Boston, haven't beaten anyone of consequence in the playoffs. Stan Van Gundy is always throwing his players, particularly Howard, under the bus when they don't perform well. This kind of losing and sniping is growing old on Orlando management.
Stan's clock could be ticking, though he routinely wins over 50 games in the ever-improving East. If the Magic don't start to figure out how to win with what they've got, Van Gundy could get a quick boot, leaving the door open for Phil.
Jackson would gain control of a young Dwight Howard, similarly to when he joined the Lakers to coach Shaq. Harness the considerable power of Dwight Howard and get something out of Orlando's overpaid slug role players (or trade them for useful players), and Jackson could return the Magic to title contention while barely breaking a sweat.
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