Despite rumors, Phil Jackson remains retired

Bresnahan’s unnamed source who relayed this news to him claimed that Jackson was “asking for the moon” in his negotiations to come back to the Lakers. This news just furthers the thinking that Mike D’Antoni was a fallback option and not a front runner all along.

Furthermore, these kind of reports blatantly contradict Los Angeles’ press release, which stated that Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss, executive vice president Jim Buss and general Manager Mitch Kupchak were unanimous in believing D’antoni was “the best coach for the team at the time.”

The Lakers spent the entire weekend flirting with Phil Jackson, and come Monday morning they made it official. The Lakers are hiring... Mike D’Antoni? If the news caught most of the basketball world off guard, you can include Phil Jackson in that group, as well.

As ESPN’s Ramona Shelbourne and Chris Broussard report, Jackson was “stunned” when the Lakers informed him that they’d chosen to hire D’Antoni. He was under the impression that the L.A. job was his to turn down before anyone else accepts. Apparently not.

While most of the East Coast was fast asleep, Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times broke this story late Sunday night.

Kobe’s history with his new coach is one of the more intriguing sub-plots of this story. It goes back all the way to his days as a kid in Italy, where he grew up watching a young D’Antoni star for Milan.

While the Lakers did not officially extend an offer to the greatest head coach of all-time during their meeting, Bresnahan reports it is well understood that the job is Jackson’s, if he wants it.

The Lakers are expected to be conducting phone interviews with other coaching candidates for their head coach position, including Mike D’Antoni and Mike Dunleavy, Sr., via Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.

Each of those coaches can’t come close to Jackson’s resume, but they all have experience coaching winning teams.

Dunleavy has previous experience as the Lakers’ coach, taking the team to the NBA Finals in 1991. McMillan amassed a 478-452 record with the Seattle Sonics and Portland Trailblazers.

According to the report, Jackson and Lakers’ officials will meet on Saturday to discuss the possibility of him taking the job or whether he is not interested for heath or other reasons.

Jackson has previously spent two different stints with the Lakers, from 1999-2004 and from 2005-2011, winning five NBA titles with the club. Jackson retired following the 2010-11 season and the Lakers hired Brown who was 41-25 in his first year in L.A.

While much has been made of the Lakers and the “Princeton offense,” Clark says poor defense is the real reason Brown is gone.

So despite lacking patience, “It was perfectly fitting and appropriate for Brown to be shown the door so quickly,” according to Clark. “Mike Brown can’t sell patience, and the Lakers couldn’t afford to buy any of it this season.”

The firing of Brown and uncertainty regarding his successor has negatively effected the Lakers’ over/under for total regular season wins. When the season opened, the Lakers’ over/under for wins was set at 56 1/2. After Friday’s developments, it has shifted to 49 1/2.

The Lakers’ playoff chances took a hit as well. Their odds of eliminated in the conference semifinals are at 5/1, while their odds of winning the NBA title are at 4/1.

The Los Angeles Lakers will be coached by Bernie Bickerstaff on Friday against Golden State, according to Mike Bresnahan of the L.A. Times, in the wake of the firing of coach Mike Brown.

Bickerstaff has extensive experience as a head coach in the NBA, coaching Seattle (1985-1990), Denver (1994-1996), Washington (1997-1999) and Charlotte (2004-2007). Bickerstaff was also the general manager while coaching the SuperSonics, Nuggets and Bobcats, and was most recently an assistant coach with the Portland Trail Blazers. This is his first season with the Lakers as an assistant.

Brown was fired on Friday afternoon after the Lakers opened the season with a disappointing 1-4 record. While the team has managed to generate a No. 6 ranking in offensive rating, the team’s defense has struggled, ranking 23rd in defensive rating.