Phil Jackson has reportedly drawn interest as a potential team president for the Seattle-based group that is pursuing the Kings as well as the Raptors. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

Phil Jackson is waiting for a resolution in the Chris Hansen-led Seattle group’s bid to purchase the Sacramento Kings before deciding on whether to accept an NBA front office position, according to ESPN.com’s Marc Stein.

Jackson, who won a combined 11 championships as head coach of the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers, reportedly “hit it off” with Hansen and would be in line to become the Sonics’ team president if Hansen wins the bid for the Kings, which he has been chasing since January.

But the team is now seen as likely to stay in Sacramento after 12 owners rejected the Seattle deal at the end of April, and Jackson is looking into other jobs, none of which involve coaching, according to the report.

From ESPN.com:

The Raptors, according to sources close to the situation, continue to pursue Jackson and continue to believe they have a shot to lure him to Canada as team president because of Jackson’s longstanding relationship with new Toronto pro sports impresario Tim Leiweke.

The Raps, though, still have yet to announce a decision on the fate of current team president Bryan Colangelo after Colangelo made a presentation to the Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment board Tuesday to urge his bosses to pick up the 2013-14 option on his contract. One source briefed on the process expects Colangelo’s fate to be formally announced this week in advance of the annual Chicago pre-draft camp.

Former Lakers coach Phil Jackson retired after the 2011 season after reportedly being diagnosed with prostate cancer. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

While the Lakers were in the midst of being swept out of the playoffs by the Dallas Mavericks in 2011, coach Phil Jackson told the team that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer, according to The Orange County Register‘s Kevin Ding.

Jackson was diagnosed in March 2011, but did not decide to tell Lakers players until the first week of May, when they played a second-round series against Dallas and Jackson “sensed the team was lacking something,” according to the report.

The revelation will appear in Jackson’s upcoming book, “Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success.”

From The O.C. Register report (via LakersGround.net):

Jackson was diagnosed with prostate cancer in March 2011. After doctors assured him the cancer could be controlled by drugs temporarily, Jackson waited until after the season to undergo surgery.

…

“Shocking,” Pau Gasol said Saturday, remembering Jackson’s disclosure to the team. “But then you also could understand certain moments of his demeanor, energy and involvement because of what he was going through health-wise. It explained certain things. It was a shock. A difficult moment for the team.”

Gasol said Jackson talked with team captains Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher privately before telling the whole team in a video session – but Jackson was left second-guessing the revelation in which he became teary-eyed as he spoke … the Lakers strangely fading in that series vs. Dallas.

Gasol allowed that it was different for the team to see Jackson – “such a big figure, the physical and spiritual leader of the team” – as vulnerable.

“As much as I love Phil and I appreciate everything about him,” Gasol said, “it was difficult to know.”

Jackson retired after that series, but his return to an NBA position has been rumored since the beginning of this season.

Phil Jackson and the Cavaliers have talked about the team’s vacant head-coaching position. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

Phil Jackson and the Cleveland Cavaliers have been in touch about the team’s vacant head-coaching position, ESPN.com’s Brian Windhorst and Marc Stein reported Sunday night.

ESPN reported that Jackson is “increasingly interested” in a return to the NBA — though he prefers a situation similar to Miami Heat president Pat Riley, who oversees personnel moves while acting as a “mentor” to head coach Erik Spoelstra.

According to the report, the Cavs have also reached out to former head coach Mike Brown about returning to the team. Brown coached the Cavaliers from 2005-10, when he was fired after the team’s second straight disappointing early exit in the NBA Playoffs. He won at least 50 games in four of his five seasons in Cleveland.

Right now, Brown might be the more realistic option for Cleveland, which fired Byron Scott last Thursday. Jackson has other potential options with the Brooklyn Nets and Sacramento Kings, and he is expected to be more intrigued by those possibilities.

Jackson is an 11-time NBA champion as coach of both the Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls. He has a career .704 winning percentage.

Former NBA coach Phil Jackson says he doesn’t plan on coaching again. (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Phil Jackson had a chance to become the Los Angeles Lakers head coach before they passed on him and hired Mike D’Antoni.

On Tuesday, after drawing interest from Brooklyn Nets when their head coaching position came open, Jackson says he doesn’t plan on standing on the sidelines anytime soon.

“I have no intention of ever coaching again,” Jackson told SheridanHoops.com.

Jackson did not use the word retire in his brief statement to the website.

Jackson, 67, has won 11 NBA championships as a coach, six with the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls and five more with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Jackson last coached with the Lakers in the 2010-11 season and left the team after the Lakers were swept by the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference semifinals. Jackson has a career record of 1,640-1,155-485.

Former NBA coach Phil Jackson hasn’t dismissed the Nets coaching job. (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Just yesterday, Phil Jackson’s agent Todd Musburger told David Aldridge via text that, “Phil has no interest in the Nets job at this time.” But it looks like that might have changed.

A source told CBSSports.com on Thursday night that the Nets job and the possibility of coaching a Brooklyn team have intrigued Jackson.  Jackson is meticulous with offers and will explore all facets of the coaching job before returning to the sideline.

No offers will be made until Nets officials meet with owner Mikhail Prokhorov. After that, the Nets will reportedly reach out to the 11-time champion coach about the job.

The firing of Avery Johnson by the Brooklyn Nets Thursday morning has already elicited denials of interest by two unofficial candidates.

The agent for Phil Jackson, Todd Musburger, told NBA.com’s David Aldridge Thursday that Jackson is not interested in coaching the Nets.

“Phil has no interest in the Nets job at this time,” Musburger said via text.

ESPN.com’s Marc Stein reported Thursday morning via Twitter that the Nets planned to discuss the job with Jackson.

Jackson talked with the Lakers about their head coaching job after the team fired Mike Brown earlier this season, but was later surprised to learn that the Lakers hired Mike D’Antoni instead.

Former Miami Heat and Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy reportedly has no interest in the Nets job according to a tweet from Brian K. Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel.

According to NBA coaching source, Nets launching broad search that will include call to Phil Jackson to gauge Phil's interest in Brooklyn—
Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) December 27, 2012

Stan Van Gundy has no interest in Brooklyn job—
Brian K. Schmitz (@MagicInsider) December 27, 2012

As evidenced by the “We want Phil!” chants at the Staples Center on Sunday, many Lakers fans hoped the team would hire 11-time champion Phil Jackson rather than Mike D’Antoni as head coach after firing Mike Brown last week. Apparently, Hall of Fame point guard Magic Johnson was among those fans.

Johnson, who won five titles with the Lakers in the 1980s, expressed his disappointment in a tweet on Wednesday afternoon:

The reason I haven't tweeted in 2 days is because I've been mourning Phil Jackson not being hired as the Lakers head coach.—
Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) November 14, 2012

Johnson had previously taken to Twitter on Sunday to dispel rumors that he was involved in the decision-making process, stating that he had not spoken to the Lakers’ front office about firing Brown.

On Tuesday, general manager Mitch Kupchak said that he viewed D’Antoni’s style as “more suited” for the team’s personnel than Jackson’s, and that Jackson’s reportedly lofty contract demands did not play a role in the decision. D’Antoni and Lakers point guard Steve Nash won more than 50 games in four straight seasons while with the Phoenix Suns, and their close relationship was likely a major factor in the hiring.

After losing to the Spurs on Tuesday night, Los Angeles sits near the bottom of the Western Conference with a 3-5 record.

Mike D’Antoni signed a three-year contract to become the Lakers’ head coach on Monday. (Glenn James/Getty Images)

Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said the organization hired Mike D’Antoni rather than Phil Jackson as head coach  “almost completely” for basketball reasons, countering speculation that Jackson’s lofty contract demands led the Lakers to choose D’Antoni as a secondary option.

“It revolved almost completely around the personnel that we had on the team and the style of play that we saw going forward for the team,” Kupchak said, according to ESPN.com. The story also states that ”Jackson was the first candidate the Lakers met with following the dismissal of Mike Brown on Friday,” but the team never offered Jackson the job.

The Lakers hired D’Antoni on Monday in a move that surprised many after reports surfaced that the team was attempting to woo Jackson out of retirement.

Los Angeles point guard Steve Nash, currently out with a leg fracture, thrived in D’Antoni’s fast-paced, pick-and-roll-heavy offense while the two were with the Phoenix Suns from 2004-08. Kupchak expressed skepticism that the team’s “newer players”  would similarly thrive in Jackson’s renowned Triangle offense that won him 11 championship rings, including five with the Lakers.

Although reports said that D’Antoni could hire former Blazers head coach Nate McMillan as an assistant, D’Antoni told the Los Angeles Times that he would only add his brother Dan, while the rest of the staff will remain intact.

The Lakers have reportedly reached out the former coach Phil Jackson to gauge interest in their head coaching position. (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

The Los Angeles Lakers are actively pursuing former coach Phil Jackson for their vacant head coaching position, reports Yahoo! Sports.

“When there’s a coach like Phil Jackson, one of the all-time greats, and he’s not coaching, you’d be negligent not to be aware that he’s out there,” Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said. “As I mentioned earlier, we’re putting together our list and attack plan. We have not reached out to anybody at this time.”

The Los Angeles Times reports that there is a “95 percent” chance that the team will hire Jackson as their next head coach.

Previous coach Mike Brown was fired Friday after the Lakers got off to a 1-4 start this season. Brown previously coached the Cleveland Cavaliers leading them to a 272-138 record, an NBA Finals appearance and two Eastern Conference Finals appearances before getting fired after the 2009-10 season.

Jackson won six NBA championships in two separate coaching stints (1999-2004, 2006-2011) with the Lakers and has 11 championships overall.

The Lakers also have made contact with former Phoenix Suns and New York Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni’s agent.

“If they offer it, I’d love it. It’d be a perfect fit,” D’Antoni told Fox Sports Southwest and DallasBasketball.com after Brown was fired.

Source close to another coaching candidate tells Y! @Lakers are pushing hard to get Phil Jackson and haven't set up anything with his client—
Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) November 10, 2012

Phil Jackson said that LeBron James has the potential and the “physical attributes” to be better than Michael Jordan by the end of his career. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

The outspoken Charles Barkley saying that LeBron James has the potential to be better than Michael Jordan by the end of his career is one thing. On Monday, Jordan’s Hall-of-Fame former coach echoed Barkley’s statements.

In a wide-ranging interview with ESPN Chicago, former Bulls and Lakers coach Phil Jackson said that James has “all the physical attributes” to match Jordan. He said that much of the comparison when all is said and done would depend on whether James can remain healthy for the rest of his career.

Here’s what Jackson told hosts Tom Waddle and Marc Silverman, via Sports Radio Interviews:

“He’s got all the physical attributes.  I think we all question the prepping that went into LeBron.  His defense was shaky when he was a younger player and finding his way through that direction.  He is a player that can play four positions. Except for perhaps the center spot, which he hasn’t given a shot at yet, he can play those other four positions quite well.

“This is unique; Michael could play three and was very good at all three of those, but as a power player that LeBron can become, I think he has an opportunity to explore and advance some of the status that he has already gained.  Winning six championships is an elusive thing out there and they haven’t won two yet.  [...]

“I have a hard time judging that best player, but I do think that Michael had more moves in the post and he had more of a, perhaps, shooting touch with his back to the basket and all these kind of things that were part of his game.  LeBron has this train out of control when he gets the ball in transition that he can go coast to coast without anyone getting in his way and if they do, he’s going to over run them.  And he’s got the power with the body and he’s developed a left hand that’s extremely good.  There’s a lot of things that you are seeing in the development of this player that leads towards that, but the ideal and the whole reason behind this is what kind of championships are you gonna get from a player like this? Can he match what Michael has done?”

Last week, Barkley gushed about the 27-year-old James, who won his first championship with the Heat last season.

“I do think he can be better than Michael,” Barkley said. “I thought I would never compare somebody to Michael Jordan. But this guy, LeBron James, he does everything well. Michael did everything well. LeBron James is just bigger, stronger, faster. That’s the only difference.”

Jerry Sloan interviewed with Portland Trail Blazers general manager Neil Olshey for the team’s head coaching job on Wednesday but took himself out of the running on Thursday.

Now Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com reports that the Blazers had back-and-forth conversations with Phil Jackson for the last few months trying to convince him to take the head coaching job. But last week Jackson’s agent called the team and said that Jackson had decided not to coach this season.

Olshey confirmed that the organization chased Jackson but would not elaborate beyond saying, “He decided it wasn’t time.”

The Thunder are reportedly interested in Phil Jackson as their coach if contract talks with current coach Scott Brooks breaks down. The team is also reportedly interested in Jeff Van Gundy. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

Phil Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy are two of only a few coaching candidates the Oklahoma City Thunder will target if contract talks with current head coach Scott Brooks breaks down, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com:

The reality is that Brooks and his bosses, after months of talks, don’t have a deal … and time is running out. And sources say that the Thunder, just to be safe, have started brainstorming in-house about whom they plan to pursue should negotiations with Brooks collapse. Two names, according to sources, that have come up in those discussions: ESPN’s Jeff Van Gundy and, yes, 11-ringed coaching free agent Phil Jackson.

Brooks’ current contract with the Thunder expires at the end of June. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported on June 17 that general manager Sam Presti “offered a three-year deal worth just under $11 million” but Brooks turned it down. According to the more recent report from Stein, Brooks is looking for a guaranteed four-year deal.

Phil Jackson, who last coached the Lakers in the 2010-11 NBA season, expressed interest in coaching again but has given no indication that he would be interested in the Thunder.

Jeff Van Gundy, an assistant coach with the Knicks in the 1990s under head coach Pat Riley, served as head coach in New York from 1996 to 2001, leading the team to the NBA Finals in the 1998-99 lockout season. He is currently an on-air television analyst with ESPN and has also expressed an interest in coaching again.

Indiana Pacers assistant coach Brian Shaw, left, is the leading candidate to be the Orlando Magic’s head coach. (Ron Hoskins/Getty Images)

Whether or not Phil Jackson takes over as the head of the Orlando Magic’s front office, his former assistant Brian Shaw is the favorite to get Orlando’s head coaching position, reports Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Bianchi.

SI.com‘s Sam Amick previously reported that the Magic are debating having Jackson run the team while spending limited time in Orlando. The plan currently under consideration has Shaw as head coach and Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen, who played for Jackson with the Chicago Bulls, as Shaw’s top assistant.

Bianchi’s report makes it clear that Shaw is the team’s leading option regardless of what happens with Jackson.

After Jackson left his position as Los Angeles Lakers head coach after last season, Shaw left the franchise, too, when he was not named head coach. As an assistant with the Indiana Pacers this year, he was credited with helping the team move toward the upper-tier of the Eastern Conference. Indiana beat Orlando in the first round of the playoffs before falling to the Miami Heat.

Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel reports that the Orlando Magic were considering the possibility of bringing aboard Phil Jackson as team president/general manager or a front-office consultant, but Jackson decided to pursue other options.

“It drew some interest from Phil,” former Magic guard Sam Vincent, who presented the scenario on Wednesday to Magic CEO Alex Martins, told Schmitz. “But in the end, Phil decided to go with another opportunity.”

Martins said in an e-mail: “Not because of this specific situation, but because I have been consistent during the search that I won’t comment on specific candidates. I stand by my statement that we will put a premium on searching for Championship experience in the positions within in our search.”

Vincent, who played for Jackson with the Chicago Bulls, added that Jackson gave him the impression that he did not want to coach again. Schmitz later tweeted that Vincent’s plan included an entire coaching staff and most of a front office.

Knicks coach Mike Woodson is close to a new deal with the team. (Getty Images)

The New York Knicks will soon end weeks of speculation by signing interim coach Mike Woodson to a long-term deal, according to a report by Newsday’s Al Iannazzone.

The two sides are hoping to sign a new contract by the Memorial Day weekend, sources told the New York Post’s Marc Berman. The deal is expected to be for three seasons.

The Knicks went 18-6 to close the regular season after Woodson replaced Mike D’Antoni on March 14. The team bowed out to the Heat in the first round of the playoffs.

There had been speculation the team would try to lure Phil Jackson out of retirement or John Calipari away from Kentucky. Instead, the team will stick with Woodson, who coached the Atlanta Hawks for six seasons and has a career record of 224-292.

Legendary head coach Phil Jackson is interested in coaching again — but no NBA teams have yet come calling, reports Ken Berger of CBS.

Sources close to the former coach say that the former Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls coach “has the itch,” and girlfriend Jeanie Buss said Friday in an L.A. radio interview that “He’s got his energy back.” But Berger reports that Jackson so far has generated no emails, no text messages and no phone calls from teams interested in offering him another coaching gig.

Jackson is currently in L.A., rehabbing from knee replacement surgery. He’s also recently had his spine fused and artificial hips inserted, and he’s feeling good physically. But despite his 1,155 career wins and 11 championships, more than any other coach in the history of American pro sports, no one has expressed interest.

“It hurts,” a Jackson confidante told Berger. “People need to know he is not dead, and he is not 70.”

Jackson is still a young buck at 66.

Legendary NBA coach Phil Jackson underwent successful knee replacement surgery today, according to his girlfriend Jeanie Buss:

Thanks to all for the positive thoughts-Dr. D completed a successful knee replacement surgery on Phil today. #GratefulTweet #RehabNext

—
Jeanie Buss (@JeanieBuss) March 29, 2012

Buss, the daughter of Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss, tweeted the news at 5:11 p.m. Pacific.

Jackson coached for over two decades in the NBA, winning 1,640 games with the Chicago Bulls and the Lakers. He won a record 11 championship rings before his retirement at the conclusion of last season.

Former NBA star Robert Horry told a Russian sports website that the imfamous feud between former teammates Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal was started by the team’s head coach, Phil Jackson.

USA Today has the translation of Horry’s words on the feud:

“I think Phil Jackson started that feud. It happened many times that after team practice he would say, “Kobe said this about Shaq, and Shaq said that about Kobe… We couldn’t believe how could that happen, because just the day before we saw them together, jumping on one another. Phil liked it when there was conflict of some sort.

I always tell people; if you look at those championships, you’ll see who were the closest players on the team. Normally those are the guys who are the first to hug each other. And when we were winning, it was always Shaq and Kobe who hugged. I think this will answer your question. Later it was blown out of proportion by the media and both players started doing something that didn’t make sense.”

Together Bryant and O’Neal helped the Lakers win three consecutive NBA titles from 2000-2002. The rift between the two forced Los Angeles to choose between the two superstars, and the Lakers sent the 32-year-old O’Neal to the Miami Heat before the 2004-05 season.