Jackson takes his time in deciding on extension

Before Phil Jackson was re-hired in 2005 to coach the Lakers, he said the length of time it took to decide on the job offer was “the biggest pregnant pause in history.”

This might be Biggest Pregnant Pause Jr.

Jackson is slowly, deliberately deciding whether to sign an extension with the Lakers, monitoring his health and the movement of the Lakers’ roster.

His future with the Lakers is not as much tied to whether Kobe Bryant stays or goes, but to the condition of his hip. A decision might come soon.

“I can see the light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.

Nothing has been put on paper, but the Lakers have sweetened the pot by informally offering a slight raise from the three-year, $30-million contract Jackson signed two years ago.

If Jackson, 62, doesn’t return to the Lakers, those close to him don’t necessarily think he would retire. He might take a year off or he might go right back into the coaching free-agent pool, similar to the summer of 2005, when he also listened to overtures from the New York Knicks before returning to the Lakers.

For now, his health is foremost.

“Phil has always been very deliberate when he calls a timeout in games,” said his agent, Todd Musburger. “If he calls a timeout now, we know it’s for a very good reason.”

For Tuesday’s season opener against Houston, Jackson finally ditched the cane he had used since undergoing a second hip replacement four months ago. He has needed more time to recover from this surgery than the hip replacement he had last October.

“I think that Phil is always looking for a positive future and he obviously wants to be careful at this point and do the right thing,” Musburger said. “I think he’s waiting for a signal. I’m talking about the physical aspect.

“A lot of people think he’s waiting for the roster to settle, but people make too much of that. He wants the best players possible playing for him, but that issue really can be separated. I think even if we didn’t have the obvious uncertainties, you’d be writing the same story.”

Either way, there is no rush.

“I’m not even going to say there’s a timetable,” Musburger said. “We’ve never heard from the Lakers that there’s a timetable, either. It’s very comfortable. There’s obviously a strong relationship between Dr. [Jerry] Buss and Phil.”

Rookie guard Javaris Crittenton, ailing forward Vladimir Radmanovic and Lamar Odom were on the inactive list for Tuesday’s game.

Radmanovic had a sore throat and Odom could still be two weeks away because of a sore shoulder, but Crittenton was part of a numbers crunch at guard.

Crittenton had a decent exhibition season but lacked experience after only one year at Georgia Tech. Jackson suggested it was a difficult decision to put him on the inactive list.

“Crittenton’s not going to be dressing tonight . . . how do you think that feels?” he said. “There’s all those things to consider when you’re a coach. You’ve got to hurt some people’s feelings and help others feel better about themselves.”

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mike.bresnahan@latimes.com