The Legend of Phil Jackson continues. With the best-known coach in NBA history out of the league for a couple of years, and lower league teams firing head coaches left and right, Jackson’s name always comes up. Will he end up in Cleveland? Brooklyn? The Angels? Or will he never train again but take a desk job as a general manager or president?
A possible landing place for Phil was with the new Seattle team that would come out of the relocation of the Sacramento Kings. However, with the Kings increasingly likely to remain in California, rather than head to the West Coast to become the new Super Sonics, Jackson likely won’t take a job in Sacramento.
The latest news regarding Jackson in the NBA is the interest the Toronto Raptors have expressed in him as president of basketball operations. With the new Sonics eliminated as competition for Jackson, the Raptors may be the top contenders. And even more promising for the franchise, Jackson is apparently far more interested in running an organization than coaching the team.
If he ends up as president of an NBA team, the Los Angeles Lakers will obviously have lost Jackson. When Mike Brown was fired after a 1-4 start to the regular season, Los Angeles basketball fans clamored for Jackson to return and coach a team that included Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and Dwight Howard. However, the Lakers opted for Mike D’Antoni.
However, taking the job with the Raptors would be an entirely different challenge for Jackson, and success is certainly not guaranteed. For one thing, coaches and players haven’t always been the best general managers, presidents or executives. Just look at Michael Jordan, who has worked hard to make the Charlotte Bobcats a contender, rather than the worst team in NBA history.
Second, the Raptors aren’t exactly a franchise with a storied past. They have made the playoffs only five times in the eighteen years of the team’s existence. Even this season, the Raptors were far from playoff contention, going 34-48 and sitting 10th in the Eastern Conference standings. They were four games behind the Milwaukee Bucks, who were eliminated from the playoffs by the Miami Heat.
If Jackson takes a job as an executive in the league, it’s likely he’ll do so with a proven brand, rather than a struggling team. He has always coached high-profile, talent-laden teams like the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers, and it’s unclear whether he’d take on the challenge of developing a mediocre or poor team. His ability to build teams and spot talent will be put to the test.
Regardless, Phil Jackson’s name will always dominate the NBA as long as he’s young and healthy enough to serve in any capacity for an organization. He has been out of the league for two years and almost every change of coach generates discussions about his name. And Jackson may be eager to return to the league in some role. Heading an organization is that role?