Larry Brown Sports

If you thought the only issues the Lakers were having were on the court, think again. According to a report from the Orange County Register, Lakers executives (and siblings) Jeanie and Jim Buss have not spoken since the team hired Mike D’Antoni instead of Phil Jackson to replace Mike Brown in November.

Jeanie is engaged to Jackson and has been with him for over 12 years. She runs the business operations for the Lakers while brother Jim runs the basketball operations.

Jim and GM Mitch Kupchak were in negotiations with Jackson to make him the team’s head coach (for the third time) before deciding to hire D’Antoni instead. Jackson was bothered by the decision because he felt like the team had given him time to mull over the offer, and he reportedly was planning to accept the gig.

The OC Register’s Kevin Ding places the nugget of information into a larger context; he wonders how the relationship between the two will impact the Lakers’ ownership. Jerry Buss, who has owned the team since 1979, is turning 79 and reportedly has left his share of the team (66 percent) to his six children. If the two siblings who have the most active roles with the team are unable to agree on the direction of the franchise, Ding speculates that they could eventually sell the team.

Chest bump to Pro Basketball Talk

It looks like Phil Jackson and Jeanie Buss are finally engaged after over 12 years of dating.

Buss, who is the Vice President of Business Operations for the Lakers, tweeted a photo Thursday of the large diamond ring Jackson gave her.

“Twitter family – Phil finally gave me that ring I wanted!” she tweeted.

Jackson, 67, and Buss, 51, began dating shortly after Phil became head coach of the Lakers in 1999 (a Los Angeles Daily News article dated Nov. 14, 2000 identifies Buss as Jackson’s girlfriend). The couple remained together throughout Jackson’s two head coaching stints with the team.

Jackson frequently would call Buss his “companion” when asked about their relationship. After being divorced twice, there were no signs he planned to marry again. It looks like he has finally changed his mind.

What adds intrigue to the apparent engagement is that Jackson’s proposal comes shortly after the Lakers chose to hire Mike D’Antoni instead of him as their head coach two months ago. Whatever feelings Jackson held toward the organization clearly did not stop him from proposing. Congratulations to the two.

Photo credit: Twitter/Jeanie Buss

The Los Angeles Lakers’ new TV deal will prevent even Lakers executive Jeanie Buss from watching the team’s games on TV.

The Lakers signed a 20-year, $3 billion deal with Time Warner Cable in February 2011. Time Warner created two new regional sports channels — Time Warner SportsNet, and the Spanish language Deportes — to carry games for which they’ve purchased broadcasting rights.

SportsNet and Deportes went live on Monday, but they are only available for customers who have Time Warner Cable. Only around a third of Southern California residents have Time Warner Cable (many others have DirecTV, Dish Network, or Cox), and Buss, the Lakers’ executive vice president of business operations, is one of the many area residents who don’t have Time Warner.

Buss attends the team’s home games, but she says she plans to watch road games at Phil Jackson’s place until a deal is reached between Time Warner and her cable provider.

“Certainly we hope we’ll be able to reach every single person living in Los Angeles and Southern California,” Buss said at a recent Time Warner Cable SportsNet event, per the Los Angeles Times. “I’m usually at the game. But when they’re on the road, I’m usually hanging out with Phil since he’s home. I don’t see that issue coming up for myself.”

Though missing Lakers games on TV won’t be a problem for Buss, it will be for thousands of Lakers fans.

The conflict centers around Time Warner Cable’s $3.95/subscriber fee they’re charging networks to carry the channels. Most providers consider that to be an exorbitant charge they refuse to pay. Time Warner Cable feels they need to charge such a high amount to see a return on their $3 billion investment.

Until a deal is reached, many Lakers fans won’t be able to watch their team.

Phil Jackson continues to be the hot name brought up for the Knicks’ vacant coaching position, however, we still don’t have a definite answer as to whether Jackson has any desire to come back to coaching. But, for what it’s worth, his own girlfriend believes the legendary coach could eventually be returning to the sidelines.

Jeanie Buss was a guest Friday on the Mason and Ireland show on 710 ESPN in L.A. and said that Jackson is nearly fully recovered from a recent knee surgery that corrected discomfort he had while he was coaching the Lakers and will probably coach again one day in some capacity.

“He’s got his energy back,” Buss said, per I am a GM.  “As a matter of fact, I overheard him making plans to play tennis when he’s back in Montana with one of his friends. He hasn’t played tennis, I don’t think, in eight years. The knee replacement really is one of those operations that has such a high success rate. It gets people back to riding their bikes, or playing golf, or playing tennis. It really is a miracle. It’s one of those things that because of Phil’s schedule he wasn’t able to take the time to get the surgery and do the rehab. Now he’s done it, and I do think he has his energy back. Now he’s going to spend his time? I don’t know.”

The Knicks reportedly are continuing to be aggressive in their pursuit of Jackson. It’s still unclear whether Jackson would actually want to coach the Knicks. But I can think of two teams in L.A. who, depending on how things shake out this weekend, Phil might be interested in.

Photo credit: Matthew Emmons-US PRESSWIRE