Larry Brown Sports

The Los Angeles Lakers have made their way into the postseason despite their well-documented struggles all season long. Losing Kobe Bryant for the year down the stretch will certainly hurt, but LA is fortunate to still be playing let alone somehow grabbing a No. 7 seed.

On Saturday afternoon, Pau Gasol tweeted that the Lakers were wrapping up practice and getting ready to head to San Antonio for their opening-round series against the Spurs. What Gasol likely didn’t remember it that Phil Jackson is now on Twitter, which means the Zen Master has another way to screw with the minds of his former players.

@paugasol you…practice?…I must be dreaming

— Phil Jackson (@PhilJackson11) April 20, 2013

Jackson used to coach Gasol and is obviously joking, but we know better than to think he has no motivation behind sending the tweet. Perhaps his motivation is to motivate. With Bryant on the shelf, Gasol and the rest of the Lakers will need to step up if they want to pull off an upset. Maybe Phil is just doing his part to help out some old buddies.

At least this tweet from the Zen Master was more than just a lame advertising ploy.

Phil Jackson could be considering a return to the NBA next season, but the 11-time NBA champion is not necessarily interested in patrolling the sidelines. According to ESPNLosAngeles.com, sources familiar with Jackson’s thinking say he is “itching” to get back to work in the NBA but is known to be intrigued by the possibility of accepting a management role for the first time in his career.

Jackson, who has previously stated that he is done with coaching for good, is reportedly intrigued by making a move similar to the one Pat Riley made in becoming the “man in charge,” so to speak, of the Miami Heat. Coaching sources told ESPN.com that Jackson’s reported interest in working in a front office position and his past comments about never coaching again will not deter teams from making a run at him as a coaching candidate.

While the Lakers have struggled this season and seemingly fallen short of their potential under head coach Mike D’Antoni, ESPN.com says a return to Los Angeles is “highly unlikely” for Jackson. If you remember, there were reports back in November that Jackson had accepted the Lakers job again before it was given to D’Antoni. It is believed the Lakers will give D’Antoni a chance to coach the team with a full training camp and healthy roster at his disposal. If you ask this NBA coach, he’d tell you the Lakers owe Jackson an apology for embarrassing him earlier this season.

Obviously, there will be no lack of interest in one of the greatest coaches in NBA history. Jackson was at the top of the Brooklyn Nets’ list and reportedly listened to their offer after Avery Johnson was fired in December, so there is still a possibility of that dialogue being revisited. Vinny Del Negro is in the final year of his contract with the Los Angeles Clippers, but ESPN The Magazine’s Chris Broussard says Clippers owner Donald Sterling has no interest in Jackson.

Of course, there’s always the strong possibility that the Zen Master stays right where he is. At age 67 and having won more championships than any coach in NBA history, it’s not as if he has a whole lot left to accomplish.

Phil Jackson recently started a Twitter account, and it hasn’t taken him long to begin entertaining the masses with his tweets.

The 11-time NBA championship-winning coach was watching the Louisville-Wichita State Final Four game on Saturday and was sharing his thoughts on the contest. One of his best tweets came with under four minutes left in the game when Stephan Van Treese and Ron Baker were called for a double-foul fighting for a loose ball following a Russ Smith miss.

double fouls are chicken s__t calls…!

— Phil Jackson (@PhilJackson11) April 7, 2013

Baker had tied up Van Treese, who responded by nailing the freshman guard in the face, likely inadvertently. Either way, the double-foul was called, and Wichita State got to take out the ball because they had the possession arrow.

Jackson’s point is well taken. A double-foul seems to be an indication that the officials saw something wrong, but they’re not sure who was responsible, so calling a double-foul is their way out making a decision. Coaches probably would just prefer to have the action continue without any fouls being called.

Photo: Matthew Emmons-US PRESSWIRE

Phil Jackson’s agent issued a statement Monday to deny a report saying the former Los Angeles Lakers coach was asked to lead the UCLA coaching search.

The Los Angeles Times’ T.J. Simers reported Saturday that after the Bruins were turned down by Shaka Smart and Brad Stevens, UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero contacted Jackson’s representative to talk about having the championship coach lead the search for a new UCLA basketball coach. Simers says Jackson was agreeable, so Guerrero reportedly was planning to have a press conference to announce that Jackson would be involved with the search. Guerrero reportedly was planning to have Jackson later meet with recruits to help the new coach.

According to Simers, Guerrero told Jackson’s rep he would take the weekend before putting the deal together. UCLA announced the hiring of Steve Alford on Saturday, which would suggest that Jackson missed out on another opportunity while being left in flux.

Jackson’s agents, Todd and Brian Musburger, issued a statement Monday to deny that Jackson was asked to lead the UCLA coaching search.

“Contrary to published reports, Dan Guerrero never asked Phil Jackson to lead the search for a new basketball coach for UCLA, nor was there ever a discussion about a press conference to make such an announcement. No terms or conditions for such a position were ever discussed nor was there ever a conversation with Mr. Guerrero and us about Phil meeting with recruits or helping the new coach. We were not waiting for a return call from Mr. Guerrero. We are disappointed that the writer who disseminated this misinformation made no advance attempt to contact us to verify his story,” the statement said, via the OC Register.

We reached out to Jackson’s agent to see whether there was talk about Jackson being involved with the UCLA basketball program in any capacity. I can’t believe that Simers made up a story out of thin air if there wasn’t at least some talks between Jackson and Guerrero, even if Simers’ story embellished (and we do know he enjoys tweaking Jackson). UCLA probably would have been better off getting Jackson’s assistance rather than hiring Alford.

Photo credit: Cary Edmondson-US PRESSWIRE

Phil Jackson officially officially joined Twitter on Wednesday, and for a while the only thing he gave us was his avatar picture which featured the 11 NBA championship rings he won as a head coach. Later in the day, he sent his first tweet. Most people had no idea what it was all about.

11 champ;ipnsikp[ ringhs

— Phil Jackson (@PhilJackson11) March 27, 2013

It turns out Jackson’s first ever tweet was the beginning of an advertisement for AOL. The idea must have been to pick up over 100,000 followers (which he did almost instantly), confuse them all with a tweet that would create some buzz and then launch a commercial to tie it all together.

Ahhh, now we get it. Clever. Time will tell if the Zen Master intends to use his Twitter account to share some inspirational thoughts and insight with us. For the time being, it appears the social media site was simply an avenue for him to fatten his wallet. Where have we seen something like that before? Joke’s over, Phil — give the people the tweets they’re looking for.

Phil Jackson may no longer be coaching in the NBA, but the Zen Master has discovered a new way to send us his masterful vibes without holding press conferences — Twitter. Jackson officially joined the Twitterverse on Wednesday and had picked up close to 30,000 followers as of 5:00 p.m. EST, despite the fact that he has yet to send a tweet. He has, however, already given us this fantastic avatar:

It may not be as good as that avatar Chad Johnson had during his brief tenure with the Patriots, but it’s very appropriate. Since it’s probably difficult to squeeze 13 championship rings into one picture, Jackson just went with the 11 he won as a head coach. He left out the two he won as a player in 1970 and 1973.

I think I speak for everyone when I say I can’t wait to see what the legend brings to the Twitter world. I feel hypnotized already.

H/T Deadspin

Phil Jackson chimed in on the Los Angeles Lakers’ problems, and the 11-time champion coach says he doesn’t think the squad is using center Dwight Howard properly.

Jackson spoke with Sports Illustrated’s Jack McCallum for an interview where many topics were discussed. Jackson said he is asked by some teams for some consultation type advice, and that one of those teams is the Lakers.

When asked an open-ended question about what he sees with the Lakers, Jackson brought up Howard.

“They just don’t put the ball in the post,” Jackson told McCallum. “They’ll use a screen-roll to get the guy in the post. But there’s no consistent plan to do it. Yes, Kobe will go in there. But Dwight [Howard] just doesn’t get any touches. They’ve basically eliminated his assets.”

Jackson told McCallum that the Lakers should be getting the ball into Howard where he would be double-teamed, which would create open outside shots. He thinks Howard has the ability to dominate inside like Shaq.

“I think he can be (like Shaq),” Jackson told SI. “But he is not where he needs to be physically because of the back surgery. He needs a year to recover from something like that. He’s starting to come around, but he has a massive upper body to carry around. He’s a terrific athlete, but he still has to get all that back. He’s looking better all the time, but his problem right now is turnovers. He’s got to have a little better recognition, and that will help him gain the confidence of his teammates and coach, which he does not have now.”

Though the criticism from Jackson has extra meaning since he was bypassed as head coach in favor of Mike D’Antoni, he did say in the interview that “it was nice to see” the Lakers improving. Still, it can’t feel comfortable for someone like D’Antoni to hear Jackson, who is much more accomplished, pointing out what he thinks is wrong with the team. You have to figure that on some level Jackson feels satisfaction that the Lakers have struggled.

As for his analysis of the Lakers, we agree. D’Antoni’s offense does not suit the strengths of this team. And though Howard clearly has not been at full strength, the team should have been concentrating on using him and Pau Gasol in the post more and working based on that. They haven’t, and they have struggled as a result.

Photo credit: Cary Edmondson-US PRESSWIRE