Jackson Couldn’t Agree More, and That’s Too Bad

Before my Tuesday night Laker-Magic pregame chat with Phil Jackson, I sought advice from Jeanie Buss on what approach I should take with her boyfriend.

Jeanie and I get along really well, because as she has to admit, no one has worked harder in this town trying to get her a ring. In fact it almost goes without saying, once it finally happens, I’ll probably be Phil’s best man.

But in the meantime -- like Jeanie and Phil -- Phil and I are working on our relationship. At times I’ve felt the strain of our busy lives, not always feeling we talk like we should, but Jeanie disagreed, saying she thought Phil was doing just fine as my “bucket boy.”

Now I have no idea what that means, but I know Dallas Maverick owner Mark Cuban called Jackson the same thing recently, and so maybe that’s the nickname he goes by with his real close friends.

“Don’t change a thing in dealing with Phil; he needs that,” Jeanie told me, while referring to the yin and yang of things when it comes to her boyfriend, adding that she views me as “Phil’s yang.”

I think it’s important in a relationship to be open, so I went to the Bucket Boy and told him, “Jeanie views me as your yang,” and without giving it any thought whatsoever, he said, “I don’t want to be your yang.”

Then, as if to prove it, he started agreeing with almost everything I said, which could very well put an end to our pregame relationship.

I’ll give you an example. When I said, “Given the way your team has played in the third quarter the past two games, isn’t it time I talk to the team at halftime?”

Without hesitation, Jackson said, “Yeah, that might help.”

Then I asked him, “Do you buy my theory that the way Kobe Bryant plays, you don’t always know if he’s going to be the facilitator or the scorer, which might be the reason for his teammates’ inconsistency?”

“I agree with that,” Jackson said, and I just don’t find him as interesting when that happens. “His teammates are waiting for what Kobe is going to do instead of just playing. Their first impulse is to pass him the ball, and if he’s inside the offense they move into the offense. If he’s in a scoring mode, they stand around and watch. It’s those in-between times when they need more direction.”

It’s his job to provide such direction, of course, so knowing that some people said Jackson’s hiring would be worth as much as 10 more wins to the Lakers this season, I wondered how many games he’s been worth to date.

“I have no idea,” he said. “I might have contributed to some losses.”

I said, “For $10 million a year, you’ve got to do a lot better than that,” and even that couldn’t get a rise out of him, and maybe Jeanie’s right, he’s finally come to terms with just being my bucket boy.

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I’VE TOLD Oscar De La Hoya repeatedly he’s finished, washed up and shouldn’t think about getting in the ring again, but Tuesday he announced his comeback at a Beverly Hills hotel.

In my estimation, he has a better chance of making it again as a singer than winning a fight, and right now you’re covering your ears if you recall those frightening days, but I might as well have been talking to a wall. I thought about slapping him but decided that wasn’t a good idea.

Instead I agreed to meet with him before the news conference, and the first thing I noticed was that he appeared exhausted. He said he had just finished working out, which meant he probably walked up a flight of stairs for our meeting.

He has agreed to fight some goofball who likes to dress as a matador on May 6 in the MGM Grand Garden Arena, someone who “I really hate,” De La Hoya said.

The goofball, Ricardo Mayorga, told De La Hoya at a commercial shoot a day earlier, “You’re as pretty as my wife.”

De La Hoya’s response: “I don’t think your wife is that pretty,” and then they almost came to blows.

Mayorga took it to another level Tuesday, throwing barbs at De La Hoya’s wife. For some reason, Mayorga is fixated on De La Hoya’s wife, bringing her up at the news conference, and while I’d be thrilled if someone took note of the wife after all these years, it ticked off De La Hoya.

De La Hoya put a finger in Mayorga’s face and said, “I am going to knock you out.” That seems unlikely, but it might be worth one more look at De La Hoya just to see how close he comes before finally getting the message that he’s finished.

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BEFORE LAST weekend’s NASCAR race, California Speedway teamed up with the Dodgers, which probably explains the number of empty seats.

The track and the Dodgers were offering “Drive 500 Miles and Think Blue” packages for $99, good for one reserved grandstand ticket to the Auto Club 500 and one infield reserve seat to a Cub-Dodger game and one infield reserve seat for a Padre-Dodger game, along with bus transportation from Dodger Stadium to the track in Fontana, a pre-race pit pass, California Speedway hat and flag.

The Speedway and the Dodgers sold a total of 13 packages.

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TODAY’S LAST word comes in e-mail from Joseph C. Nnadi:

“Wow, athlete mouths off, wins nothing, acts like a jerk to the press, the fans, his fellow competitors, and guess what happens to Bode Miller? Nothing. The press lets him off with a mild reprimand.... Considering the fire and zeal with which you all go after Barry Bonds and Kobe ... I would hate to believe there is a national zeal to discredit black athletes.”

You’d have a tough time right now convincing Tony Stewart, Brad Faxon and Jeff Kent of that.

T.J. Simers can be reached at t.j.simers@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Simers, go to latimes.com/simers.