Countdown Begins for Jackson, Lakers

Phil Jackson returned Tuesday from an extended holiday weekend at his Montana home, moving toward a decision over the next two weeks that could have him trading in fishing rods and tranquil time for lengthy road trips, venomous crowds and seasons that last 82 games, possibly longer.

Jackson said last month he would decide on his coaching future by mid-June, if not earlier, setting up a countdown of sorts.

A year ago, Jackson was guiding the Lakers toward a possible fourth championship in five seasons. They missed and that failure led to Jackson’s departure and, after a 34-48 season, the Lakers’ departure from elite status.

But the Laker world spins in unusual ways, and there was Jackson meeting recently with General Manager Mitch Kupchak to assess the Laker roster, a get-together labeled as productive but without a job offer for Jackson.

Then there is the Jackson-Kobe Bryant issue. They finished their previous association on a sour note and although they had a casual phone conversation last month, Bryant, back from vacationing in Europe, is said to be reluctant about a face-to-face meeting.

According to a source close to Bryant, he is concerned that if he and Jackson meet, and Jackson does not take the Laker job, Bryant will be singled out as the reason. Bryant would meet with Jackson if Kupchak or Laker owner Jerry Buss asked him to, but Laker officials have said Bryant would not play a role in the selection process.

Team sources said Bryant would already have voiced concerns about Jackson if he had any. “I think he and Kobe have to discuss what were the differences,” said Magic Johnson, Laker vice president and minority owner. “It was more little things. They can get over those little things. I think what they’ve got to do is have better communication and have a no-press policy, like we used to have. If they have a difference, just settle it between them and don’t involve you [media] guys because that hurts everything.”

Jackson’s name surfaced the day Rudy Tomjanovich resigned in early February. The Lakers decided to promote Frank Hamblen as interim coach, but the possibility of rehiring Jackson began anew when Kupchak labeled him a “viable candidate” the day after the April 20 season finale.

Jackson, 59, who underwent an angioplasty two years ago and has been bothered by arthritis in his knees and hips, has been considering his options.

He passed a series of diagnostic tests but said last month he was awaiting a vision as to whether he was emotionally and mentally fit for the trials of numerous NBA seasons.

If Jackson decides to coach again and picks the Lakers, negotiations will be free flowing, Johnson said.

“It’s not going to be tough negotiations,” said Johnson, who owns about 5% of the Lakers. “[Owner Jerry] Buss has done a good job of laying the guidelines of what it’s going to be. We know we’re going to have to be in that $7 million-to-$10 million range, I’m sure.”

On the other hand, it remains a two-way street, with the Lakers awaiting a vision of their own, Johnson said.

“Dr. Buss wants to make the right decision,” Johnson said. “He doesn’t want a one- or two-year guy. He wants to make sure the guy wants to be here a long time, and I give him good credit for that. Before he left, we had a good talk, and that’s what he wants. A guy who’s going to be here and that loves to coach the Lakers and wants to make the Lakers a championship team.”

Buss returns in late June from a six-week vacation in Europe.

Jackson has said he likes the potential of Lamar Odom and Caron Butler, and he knows he gets one of the game’s top one-on-one players in Bryant, but said he was bothered that the Lakers are salary-cap strapped. He called the current roster unappealing and underachieving in an interview last month.

The Lakers have the No. 10 pick in the June 28 draft and have five players heading into the final year of their contracts, making them valuable trade commodities in an era of salary-cap flexibility. (Mark Bartelstein, Devean George’s agent, said Tuesday that George, as expected, would exercise a player option for $5 million next season to give the Lakers a definite five in their final year.)

If the next Laker coach is Jackson, what will change?

“First of all, he brings a discipline,” said Johnson, who also serves as an NBA analyst for TNT. “I felt that we were not disciplined enough to play defense night in and night out. First, you make them be disciplined and add that defensive side. Then we also got killed on the boards.

“We scored with anybody. Scoring was not the problem. Our defense was just horrible. He brings instant credibility, a guy that teaches defense first.” Meanwhile, the Lakers continue with a structure similar to the one in place when the regular season ended.

Hamblen, under contract until July, has been working out players invited by the Lakers to their El Segundo facility for pre-draft evaluations.

A longtime assistant under Jackson with the Lakers and Chicago Bulls, Hamblen probably will stay on as an assistant if Jackson returns.