Lakers need to cut a deal with Phil Jackson

In a postseason filled with breathless runs and soaring fun, the highest Lakers drama has swirled around a stationary lectern manned by a guy who can barely move.

Before every pregame news conference, it seems, potential free-agent Coach Phil Jackson is asked about his future.

Is he coming back? Does he want to come back? Do the Lakers want him to come back? Will it be his decision? How soon? How much? Tell us now!

Not once has Jackson been able to offer a definitive answer. Not once have the Lakers stepped in to help him. Night after night, the routine has continued, the greatest coach in NBA history transformed into a punch line, the steadiest presence in the organization publicly battered by uncertainty.

It is occasionally interesting, sometimes funny, increasingly boring, but on Wednesday night it became downright demeaning.

Responding to media reports that he would be rehired only if he’s willing to take a $7-million pay cut, Jackson refused to confirm the size of the slice, but acknowledged that a pay cut has been “indicated.” While Lakers officials later said that Jackson’s indications came from the media, that would be the first time someone with 10 championship rings would listen to someone with ink under their nails.

I believe Jackson has been told by someone in the Lakers organization that for him to return, he would have to take a cut from his sports-best $12-million salary, and I don’t like where this is going.

The Lakers cannot underestimate his influence. They cannot undervalue his impact. They cannot mess with this man.

The Lakers need to pull Jackson aside and remind him that they want him back, and that they will pay a reasonable rate to do so. If they need to cut his salary to complement their overstuffed payroll, then maybe they give him a piece of the team, as they once did with Magic Johnson. If he needs to take less money, maybe they can make it up in other ways. If they need to be creative to make him happy, well, isn’t this the capital of creative?

The Lakers to give Jackson the self-empowering assurances he has given so many of their players. For once, they need to coach him the way he has coached them.

Jackson needs to be able to stand in front of the media and give the same answer the rest of the spring: “Dr. Buss has said he wants me back if I want to come back. I’ll take a week after the season to see how I feel. We’ll talk about it then.”

Even in these difficult economic times, Jackson deserves to know the organization will pay the price to keep him, because the price without him is far higher.

You think somebody else can deal with Kobe Bryant’s moods? Ron Artest’s madness? Pau Gasol’s hesitance? Lamar Odom’s reluctance? And then guide them all to within two wins of a third consecutive appearance in the NBA finals, his seventh finals in 10 years as Lakers coach?

You think somebody else could have calmly handled the constant nuttiness that has enveloped this organization over the last decade and turned it into four championships?

Well, somebody else tried, and look what happened. After owner Jerry Buss allowed Jackson to leave in the summer of 2004, Rudy Tomjanovich and Frank Hamblen led the Lakers to a 34-48 record during the ensuing season before Jackson’s return. It has been the only losing season in Bryant’s career, and it is no coincidence that Jackson was not on the bench when it happened.

By now, surely, Buss has learned. At last, finally, Buss must understand.

Jackson is as valuable to the Lakers as any player not named Bryant or Gasol. They cannot win a title without all three of them. Buss cannot let him leave again.

And while Jackson has said he probably would coach here or nowhere, what if New Jersey Nets billionaire owner Mikhail Prokhorov decides to chase him? What if Prokhorov offers him mad money? What if Jackson feels compelled to take it because Jerry Buss never told him how much he was valued?

And believe me, even after all these years have slowed his step and weathered his Zen, Jackson should be valued. Without his calming influence and credible leadership this postseason, any number of distractions could have engulfed this team, but nothing has touched it. Jackson was briefly his own distraction when he offered support of Arizona’s awful new immigration law, but even if you disagree with him — and I do, vehemently — at least he took the heat and answered the question, a rarity among today’s sports leaders.

Whenever a dramatic move is necessary to ensure the Lakers’ greatness, Buss has traditionally found the money and made that move. His reputation has been made on it, his legacy has been built on it.

The Lakers need to let Phil Jackson know that, if he so chooses, he can be a Laker for life. They need to let him know now.

bill.plaschke@latimes.com

twitter.com/billplaschke

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