Buss Is Star of Chat Room In lengthy interview, Laker owner says he will meet with Jackson, praises Kupchak and defends O'Neal trade. By Mike Bresnahan Times Staff Writer May 5, 2005 In 10 days, Laker owner Jerry Buss leaves for a six-week European vacation that will include Shakespearean theater in London and fine wine in Venice. Before that, he is expected to meet formally with Phil Jackson within a few days, perhaps emerging with his new coach after extracting a few things from his former coach, namely that health and heart are not a concern and that Jackson believes this team can go far enough in the playoffs to warrant a reunion. Buss is warming to the idea of reuniting with Jackson, sources said, even though they parted abruptly less than 11 months ago, and the new price for doing business with him could reach $10 million annually. "I suspect we're going to pay something relatively close to that, regardless of who the coach is," Buss said Wednesday. Jackson, 59, will not be offered a piece of the franchise or a front-office role in addition to coaching, said Buss, who thought Jackson and Kobe Bryant could patch up any wounds stemming from Jackson's criticism of Bryant as being uncoachable in a tell-all book released in October. "No question, absolutely," Buss said. "I think it's the media that [caused] problems. From Kobe's perspective, he wants to win and if he thinks that Phil Jackson is the guy that's going to cause him to win, he'll hug him, kiss him and send him a birthday present. And I say the same about Phil. Phil is about winning. He wants the championship. If it has to be for him to go to lunch every day with Kobe, he'll do it. These people want to win." So Bryant would endorse Jackson if asked? "I really don't want to ask that question because he's not part of the decisionary factor," Buss said. "Kobe is the leader of this team but in terms of front-office decisions, that's up to Mitch, Jimmy and myself," he said, referring to General Manager Mitch Kupchak and assistant general manager Jim Buss, his son. Jackson underwent an angioplasty to open a blocked heart artery in May 2003 and has been bothered by arthritis in his knees and hips, part of the health concern Buss mentioned Wednesday. After watching Rudy Tomjanovich resign halfway through the season, Buss wants to make sure Jackson's mind-set includes a steadfast commitment to return to the game. Buss, who normally allows one in-depth interview session a year, allowed as much while sitting with media members Wednesday for the third time in 10 months. With his eight championship trophies off to his right in an office at Laker headquarters in El Segundo, Buss talked about the Shaquille O'Neal trade and the direction of the franchise, reserving praise for Kupchak along the way. Ever the gambler and a mainstay at numerous celebrity poker tournaments, Buss denied that he threw away a sure hand by trading O'Neal to the Miami Heat for Lamar Odom, Brian Grant, Caron Butler and a first-round selection. "He's 60 pounds lighter in Miami than he was in Los Angeles," Buss said. "And as you've probably gathered recently, he seems to be having some [health] problems. My reaction was, if he was not willing to get in shape, which he had five, eight years, some number of times to do, and we urged him. It seems that the motivation for him to lose weight was to trade him. "As you know, Shaq is in his middle 30s and it might be difficult to build around him. I suspect if I had known he was going to lose 60 pounds I probably would have made a different decision." Source
Thanks for the article. I was hoping the Lakers were going to announce a trade or that Phil was signed on already. I'm glad Buss is covering all the angles and not rushing into a commitment to Phil.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting shapecity:</div><div class="quote_post">Thanks for the article. I was hoping the Lakers were going to announce a trade or that Phil was signed on already. I'm glad Buss is covering all the angles and not rushing into a commitment to Phil.</div> Sane here, but I'm still not sure if Phil Jackson is the best choice. Maybe Paul Silas or Flip Saunders. Let's just see what happense. It should be interesting.
Nice post, good read. 2 Ego's are better then 3 ego's, andt hey both have a hunger for another ring, thats why i think kobe and phil can win together again. Ive heard between 10,12 mil a year will be phil's price range and there is about a 65% -78% chance Phil is coming back to LA.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting pimpdaddy33:</div><div class="quote_post">Sane here, but I'm still not sure if Phil Jackson is the best choice. Maybe Paul Silas or Flip Saunders. Let's just see what happense. It should be interesting.</div>Flip is not the coach for the Lakers. He had a superstar in KG every year he was in Minnesota. He proved that he couldn't coach a team, no matter how good they are, out of the first round. Sure, he can win in the regular season, but when it matters most, he can't coach a team to a playoff series win. I don't want that. I want a coach who knows how to win and can actually coach a superstar to get him to win in the playoffs. Flip couldn't do that in Minnesota, so what's to think he can do that in LA, where everything else is on a bigger scale and there is more pressure and drama then you can ever imagine?
Scratch Flip off the list, he's going to cost a team draft picks. Apparently, he was never fired by the TWolves, instead he was given another position in the organization. He never checked in for his new position, so teams still need to ask permission to speak to him, and must compensate Minny with draft picks if they hire Flip.
