Lakers Re-Acquire Head Coach Phil Jackson
After many months of being interviewed by various teams such as the Knicks and the Lakers The Zen Master (a.k.a. Phil Jackson) has made up his mind. He has decided to come back to Los Angeles to coach the Los Angeles Lakers.

After being absent from the NBA coaching scene for a year, the long awaited return of Phil Jackson to the NBA has finally come. Though in his absence the Lakers have not been the same. After Jackson resigned after Game 5 of the 2004 NBA Finals, the Lakers have struggled. After losing the NBA Finals in 5 games to the Detroit Pistons last season Phil Jackson was losing faith in his team, and he knew that his players were unhappy. By then Shaq and Kobe hated each other, and Shaq wanted out of LA. Phil knew that Shaq was unhappy, and sided with Shaq on the situation. Jackson and Kobe had never had a good friendship in the past, but it was this that made it completely fall apart.

As a result of asking some of the best coaches in basketball, such as former Houston Rockets Head Coach Rudy Tomjanovich and Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski were asked to come coach the desperately in need of a coach Lakers. It was Tomjanovich who finally agreed to be the Head Coach of the Lakers last season. At first what seemed like a perfect match between Tomjanovich and Kobe ended up a nightmare. The Lakers were struggling to stay at .500, and Kobe and everyone around him knew that his teammates were not playing their hardest. To make matters worse, Tomjanovich was forced to resign as head coach due to off-court health issues. Since Tomjanovich’s departure the Lakers have gone from a .500 team to 14 games under in a tragic end to their regular season. While superstar teams such as the Detroit Pistons and San Antonio Spurs were returning to the NBA Playoffs, the Lakers were staying in LA, their season was over.

Phil Jackson has signed a 3-year contract with the Lakers. He is back in LA, and the Lakers now have a chance to make it back to the playoffs after missing the cut last season. Though they may not be able to win another championship even with Phil Jackson, his return will surely be an improvement.

The only question remaining is: will Phil and Kobe be able to set aside their past and finally get along. I personally believe that things will go quite smoothly between the two now that Shaq has left for Miami, but only time will tell.



Written by: bartoron
Proof-read by: bill_iop99 and mr penguin12
Coded By: Duke