Phil Jackson will always be an iconic figure in the city of Los Angeles and with Lakers fans everywhere for the numerous championships he helped lead the franchise to. While his days in L.A. are most likely over there have been rumors of Jackson considering a job in the front office with the Orlando Magic.
News came a few days ago that the Magic were no longer considering the Hall of Fame coach for a position, but it appears that something may have changed. What's the latest on Jackson?
Sam Amick of Sports Illustrated has the latest report. Here are the key snippets to the article.
The pitch for Phil Jackson to run the Orlando Magic isn't dead just yet.
Five days after the Orlando Sentinel reported that the former Lakers and Bulls coach with 11 championship rings had "bowed out" of a plan to be the lead personnel man for the Magic, two sources close to the situation told SI.com that a revised version of the proposal that still included Jackson's involvement was submitted to the team Tuesday morning.
And on what role he would exactly have:
Sam Vincent, who played for the Bulls during Jackson's days as an assistant in Chicago and also played for the Magic, continues to captain the cause that would have Jackson work remotely (likely from Los Angeles, where his longtime girlfriend, Jeanie Buss, remains with the Lakers) most of the time. Vincent would operate in a front-office role in the plan, while the team would be coached by a protégé (or two) of Jackson's.
According to the sources, the latest version of the proposal has Pacers assistant and ex-Lakers assistant Brian Shaw coaching the team and Hall of Famer and Bulls ambassador Scottie Pippen as the lead assistant. And as if Jackson's potential price tag wasn't daunting enough (he earned $12 million in his last year with the Lakers), one of the sources said he is asking for a slice of minority ownership in the franchise as well.
There are numerous reasons for why Jackson makes sense in Orlando. Not only does he posses one of the greatest basketball minds of all time, but he also might be able to convince Dwight Howard to stay with the Magic. Jackson (and Howard) would not come cheap, but the franchise has money and the two together might be just enough to bring a title to Orlando.
This will definitely be an interesting story to keep an eye on in the coming days.
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