<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Coach Phil Jackson has decided to sign a contract extension that keeps him with the Lakers for two more seasons. Jackson met Wednesday with Jerry Buss and informed the Lakers owner of his decision.</p> Jackson, 62, will get a modest raise from the three-year, $30-million contract he signed in June 2005, which was the richest per-annum coaching deal in U.S. pro sports history. Jackson is expected to make $11 million or $12 million a season in his new deal. "Everyone connected with Phil is pleased with his decision, something that only he could make after considering all aspects of what it means to be a head coach," said Jackson's agent, Todd Musburger. "Obviously, he's up for it. There is a spring in his step." Jackson declined to comment this morning, saying there would be an official announcement later in the day. He will preside over a team brimming with the potential of 20-year-old Andrew Bynum, but also fraught with uncertainty until the Kobe Bryant situation resolves itself. Bryant has not stepped back from a trade demand and can terminate his Lakers contract in summer 2009 if he is not traded. But Jackson has found an extreme comfort level with the Lakers. He gets along well with his coaching staff, lives only a few miles from the team's El Segundo training facility, and is a longtime companion of team executive Jeanie Buss. Jackson is still a motivating force with players and has found his health to be acceptable, a key factor in his decision. Jackson repeatedly said he would wait to sign an extension until properly gauging his strength while recovering from a second hip-replacement surgery within a year. He had his right hip replaced in October 2006 and had his other hip replaced in June, a procedure that took him longer than expected from which to recover. He was privately concerned about signing up for more time on the road, what with the toll of sleeping in uncomfortable hotel beds and lugging bag after bag to city after city, none of which were guaranteed to have the steady weather of his Playa del Rey home. He has managed to maintain his humor throughout an unpredictable season, pushing the Lakers past the Bryant ordeal to an above-average start while reserving the right to chide them when they lose. He feigned shock when asked about his future with the team after a recent one-sided loss in Boston. "Please don't ask me that question now after that horrible game," he said dryly. "That was awful. Now is a terrible time to ask me. I resign." Jackson took over a team that went 34-48 in 2004-05, missed the playoffs for only the fifth time in franchise history and struggled to fill seats at home games down the stretch, finishing with 12 nonsellouts. He helped guide the Lakers to a near-upset of the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the 2006 playoffs, although he acknowledged that last season's net result -- a docile five-game loss to the Suns in the first round -- was a step backward. Jackson had a reputation for taking over only teams with Hall of Fame talent, but his career winning percentage has dropped from .725 to .699 during his second tour with the Lakers. He had won nine championships (including six with the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls) in 14 seasons before rejoining the Lakers, but his career playoff win total has climbed from 175 to only 179 since his return. His career record stands at 927-399. The Jackson story has marked a riveting about-face by the franchise, which parted ways hastily with him after the Lakers' mini-dynasty sputtered in the 2004 NBA Finals against the Detroit Pistons. At the time, Buss suggested Jackson's methodical triangle offense had run its course, a revelation later described by Jackson as jarring and unsettling. But Buss recently left the door wide open for Jackson's return beyond this season. "If he feels up to it, then he will sign an extension, and hopefully, that's what's going to happen," Buss said in October. "I'm very fond of him." In addition, Jackson has made peace with Bryant over the last couple of seasons after criticizing him in a tell-all book that came out in October 2004. Jackson even appeared to side with Bryant this past off-season, granting a series of interviews in which he tweaked the Lakers' front office for not making big roster changes.</div></p> Source: LA Times</p>
LOL it's probably hope. They have been playing pretty good and Bynum is a beast and Kobe is just Kobe</p>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (shapecity)</div><div class='quotemain'></p> <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'> Coach Phil Jackson has decided to sign a contract extension that keeps him with the Lakers for two more seasons. Jackson met Wednesday with Jerry Buss and informed the Lakers owner of his decision.</p> Jackson, 62, will get a modest raise from the three-year, $30-million contract he signed in June 2005, which was the richest per-annum coaching deal in U.S. pro sports history. Jackson is expected to make $11 million or $12 million a season in his new deal. "Everyone connected with Phil is pleased with his decision, something that only he could make after considering all aspects of what it means to be a head coach," said Jackson's agent, Todd Musburger. "Obviously, he's up for it. There is a spring in his step." Jackson declined to comment this morning, saying there would be an official announcement later in the day. He will preside over a team brimming with the potential of 20-year-old Andrew Bynum, but also fraught with uncertainty until the Kobe Bryant situation resolves itself. Bryant has not stepped back from a trade demand and can terminate his Lakers contract in summer 2009 if he is not traded. But Jackson has found an extreme comfort level with the Lakers. He gets along well with his coaching staff, lives only a few miles from the team's El Segundo training facility, and is a longtime companion of team executive Jeanie Buss. Jackson is still a motivating force with players and has found his health to be acceptable, a key factor in his decision. Jackson repeatedly said he would wait to sign an extension until properly gauging his strength while recovering from a second hip-replacement surgery within a year. He had his right hip replaced in October 2006 and had his other hip replaced in June, a procedure that took him longer than expected from which to recover. He was privately concerned about signing up for more time on the road, what with the toll of sleeping in uncomfortable hotel beds and lugging bag after bag to city after city, none of which were guaranteed to have the steady weather of his Playa del Rey home. He has managed to maintain his humor throughout an unpredictable season, pushing the Lakers past the Bryant ordeal to an above-average start while reserving the right to chide them when they lose. He feigned shock when asked about his future with the team after a recent one-sided loss in Boston. "Please don't ask me that question now after that horrible game," he said dryly. "That was awful. Now is a terrible time to ask me. I resign." Jackson took over a team that went 34-48 in 2004-05, missed the playoffs for only the fifth time in franchise history and struggled to fill seats at home games down the stretch, finishing with 12 nonsellouts. He helped guide the Lakers to a near-upset of the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the 2006 playoffs, although he acknowledged that last season's net result -- a docile five-game loss to the Suns in the first round -- was a step backward. Jackson had a reputation for taking over only teams with Hall of Fame talent, but his career winning percentage has dropped from .725 to .699 during his second tour with the Lakers. He had won nine championships (including six with the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls) in 14 seasons before rejoining the Lakers, but his career playoff win total has climbed from 175 to only 179 since his return. His career record stands at 927-399. The Jackson story has marked a riveting about-face by the franchise, which parted ways hastily with him after the Lakers' mini-dynasty sputtered in the 2004 NBA Finals against the Detroit Pistons. At the time, Buss suggested Jackson's methodical triangle offense had run its course, a revelation later described by Jackson as jarring and unsettling. But Buss recently left the door wide open for Jackson's return beyond this season. "If he feels up to it, then he will sign an extension, and hopefully, that's what's going to happen," Buss said in October. "I'm very fond of him." In addition, Jackson has made peace with Bryant over the last couple of seasons after criticizing him in a tell-all book that came out in October 2004. Jackson even appeared to side with Bryant this past off-season, granting a series of interviews in which he tweaked the Lakers' front office for not making big roster changes.</div></p> Source: LA Times</p> </div></p> He'll reach 1000 wins by next year! LOL</p> </p>
