Jackson hasn’t turned the page yet

Where are the books?

Lakers Coach Phil Jackson typically hands out a book of individual significance to each player during a lengthy December trip, but he postponed it until the current eight-game trip.

Then he revealed Tuesday it wouldn’t happen until a four-game excursion next month that takes the Lakers through Phoenix, Minnesota, Milwaukee and Philadelphia.

“I had all the books in a bag, a Barnes and Noble bag, but I decided I didn’t want to bring them,” said Jackson, who didn’t feel entirely comfortable with his selections. “I have like five books in there that I feel OK about them, but ... there’s a book that I was looking for that wasn’t available.”

Last season, Jackson gave “Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking” to Kobe Bryant and Sun-Tzu’s “The Art of War” to Lamar Odom.

His annual book-buying binge even came up in a testy locker-room rant Jackson unleashed on his players after their 95-84 loss last week to Indiana, Jackson said.

“I told them, ‘You guys wouldn’t read the ... things anyway,’ when I went off on a little outburst on them the other day. ‘All you guys can do is play video games and watch porn movies.’ ”

*

Forward Luke Walton did not practice Tuesday and is unlikely to play Thursday against Detroit or Friday against Toronto, Jackson said.

Walton has missed six games because of a sprained right ankle.

“He’s getting frustrated with the situation,” Jackson said. “It’s longer than he ever thought it would be.”

*

The NBA announced that Bryant would judge the slam dunk competition at the All-Star game, which was news to Bryant. He was told by reporters about the announcement before Monday’s game against Atlanta.

“The league didn’t tell me that when they suspended me,” Bryant said sarcastically.

*

The Lakers are 3-2 on the trip, although they could easily be 4-1 if not for that minor detail of Bryant’s suspension last week against New York. “We could have been 5-0 if we hadn’t fallen out in Indiana,” Jackson said. “You could always have an ‘if’ in the NBA.”

*

mike.bresnahan@latimes.com