Jackson Won’t Be Coaching Lakers and Biggest Stars May Not Be Back

In a day of upheaval, Phil Jackson departed Friday as Laker coach, Shaquille O’Neal demanded a trade and Kobe Bryant became a free agent, signaling a tempestuous summer for the franchise as it tries to rebound from its jolting defeat in the NBA Finals.

Jackson and the Lakers parted ways by mutual agreement, according to a news release issued by the team. But according to people familiar with a meeting Friday between Jackson and Jerry Buss, the Laker owner bluntly told his coach that he would not be invited back. Jackson was offered a job as a Laker executive vice president, which he was expected to turn down.

“Three rings and a fourth opportunity makes this a bittersweet ending, but it’s time to pause and reflect,” Jackson said in the release.

O’Neal’s comments suggested only bitterness.

“The direction they’re going in, if they’re going to continue to go in the same direction, I don’t want to be a part of this,” he said in a telephone interview. “This team, it ain’t about me. It ain’t about Phil. It’s supposed to be about team.”

O’Neal said he decided he wanted out this week because of his belief that Buss is interested, first and foremost, in pleasing Bryant and re-signing him to a long-term contract. Buss has referred to Bryant as a “son”; and Bryant and O’Neal have feuded on and off over leadership of the team since both arrived in 1996.

O’Neal spoke out one day after Laker General Manager Mitch Kupchak said he would not accept trade offers for Bryant but might be forced to accept one for O’Neal.

“When I was brought here by [then-Laker executive] Jerry West, there was a team concept. It was something I wanted to be a part of,” O’Neal added. “Now, no one cares. It seems right now they are trying to pit one person against another.”

Under the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement, trading the 7-foot-1, 340-pound center might prove difficult, because the Lakers would have to take on as much salary as they trade away. For that reason, any deal would have to bring in two or more players to match O’Neal’s $27.7-million salary next season, the NBA’s highest.

Bryant had indicated during the season that he would opt out of the final year of his contract, a procedural move that leaves him free to sign with any team. Under league rules, the Lakers would be able to offer Bryant more money than any other franchise. Bryant has maintained that he prefers to remain a Laker. He declined to comment Friday.

Still, his action symbolized the meltdown of a club that was formed amid great promise a year ago, when veteran superstars Karl Malone and Gary Payton accepted pay cuts to join the roster in search of their first championships.

But ill feelings surfaced early and simmered for months as the Lakers struggled through injury, jealousy and criminal charges against Bryant. The season ended with a whimper Tuesday night when Detroit defeated Los Angeles in the title-clinching fifth game of the NBA Finals, a series in which the heavily favored Lakers were outplayed and humbled by the young, selfless Pistons.

Still, the unsatisfactory finish hasn’t lessened Buss’ determination to retain Bryant, a resolve he expressed in a November interview.

“I certainly hope -- and you can put that in capital letters if you like -- that Kobe re-signs. I guess my basic feeling is that this is where he belongs,” Buss said then. “I have faith that when it comes time, Kobe will be signed.”

Buss’ decision to make Bryant the centerpiece of this era mirrors his actions in the 1980s, when he built the Showtime teams around Magic Johnson’s flashy style. Those teams won five NBA championships and captured the hearts and wallets of the Hollywood crowd and became the league’s most glamorous franchise.

Bryant is a gifted player offensively and defensively, one who thrives on pressure and time and again has won games with last-second shots. He is a fan favorite whose No. 8 jersey is among the best-selling merchandise in the NBA.

But staking the near-term future of the Lakers on him is not without pitfalls. Most significant, the 25-year-old guard has been charged with sexual assault in Colorado and is expected to go to trial in late summer or the fall. A conviction could send him to prison for four years to life.

He has been criticized by teammates and others for selfish, even pouty, actions on the floor. O’Neal repeatedly has expressed his dissatisfaction with Bryant’s failure to feed him the ball on a consistent basis.

O’Neal and Bryant joined the team thanks to the artful 1996 deal-making of West, who traded to obtain Bryant, a high school star who jumped to the NBA, and signed the free agent O’Neal to a record $120-million, seven-year contract after an agonizing negotiation. West stepped down four years ago, but missed the game and returned in 2002 as president of the Memphis Grizzlies. That franchise made the playoffs this season for the first time in its history.

Jackson, 58, joined the Lakers in 1999, having coached the Chicago Bulls to six NBA titles in the 1990s with Michael Jordan on the team. When he arrived in Los Angeles, O’Neal and Bryant had already been together for three seasons without winning a title. Jackson led the Lakers to the NBA Finals in four of his five seasons.

His nine career championships tied him with the Boston Celtics’ Red Auerbach for the most by a coach; his .725 winning percentage and 175 playoff victories are the highest in league history.

The Lakers have not yet begun the process of replacing Jackson, though former Laker coach Pat Riley and ex-NBA coaches Rudy Tomjanovich and George Karl have been mentioned as possible successors.

Within the Laker organization, Jim Cleamons, Kurt Rambis, Brian Shaw and Michael Cooper are expected to be considered. USC’s Henry Bibby also appears to have an interest.

With Buss intent on building around Bryant, it is unclear which other players would occupy a solar system with him at its center.

Malone, 40, might retire, and Payton, 35, who had complained bitterly about his reduced role in the playoffs, could choose to skip the second and final year of his pact.

Other key departures are also possible. Forward Rick Fox, who turns 35 next month, has spoken of retirement; Derek Fisher, a playoff hero who won a game with 0.4 seconds left, could leave as a free agent; forward Slava Medvedenko is a free agent.

One player said Friday to count him out: veteran center Horace Grant, who played for Jackson-coached championship teams in Chicago and Los Angeles but finished last season on the injured list.

Informed Friday of Jackson’s departure, Grant said: “I’m done for good, for real. I can’t see myself, at this stage of my career, playing for any coach but Phil Jackson.”