Phil Jackson Says He Spoke to 3 or 4 Teams About Front-Office Jobs

There’s been plenty of speculation about Phil Jackson’s interest in working for an NBA team again. The Zen Master confirms that he’s had exploratory chats with a number of teams about moving into the front-office. Per the San Fran Chronicle: “I’ve had some talks with people,’ Jackson said, ‘and there are some interesting situations that are presenting themselves, but I really haven’t made up my mind yet what I’m going to do. None of it involves coaching. … There are three or four teams that have been interested.’ […] Jackson said he would be interested in a developing team ‘where you’d have the influence in (selecting the) coaching staff and the kind of culture that goes along with it. It goes all the way down to – not down to, but includes – trainers and the people who are doing the hands-on work with players, that have to be really embedded with how you put a team together. … The support group is important; guys who get an opportunity to hear and talk and influence the players. It would be a real opportunity to implant the game, a culture that I believe in – that’s the intriguing part.’ Jackson said there is no timeline and that an offer ‘really has to grab’ him. ‘I’ve been fortunate in my life to have things just kind of come out of a backdrop and present themselves to me, challenges or issues, and that’s what’s got to happen here, that I think really makes a difference for me, then I’ll say, ‘This is the right one,’ he said. […] I asked Phil Jackson about Mark Jackson. I again expected a cliche answer about what a swell job Mark Jackson is doing. Instead: ‘I have some problems with guys going directly from the (television) booth to coaching, without any preparation,’ said Phil Jackson, who worked his way up from coaching in minor-league outposts like Albany and Puerto Rico. ‘It’s not that easy. Doc Rivers did it, and other guys have done it, and I think Mark was prepared to do that, but it’s still a shock, so to speak – the practice, preparation and the whole nine yards, when you’ve been sitting on the observing end of it. … But I hold nothing against Mark for having the opportunity.'”