PHIL JACKSON GOING BACK TO THE LAKERS?

With 11 NBA titles, you'd figure that Phil Jackson has nothing left to prove. But with the Lakers' head coaching job open, ESPN claims that Jackson will consider coming back to the NBA in search of yet another title with Kobe and co. y">ESPN claims that Jackson will consider coming back to the NBA in search of yet another title with Kobe and co.

Since news broke early Friday that Lakers coach Mike Brown had been fired, there has been rampant speculation as to who the Lakers have in mind for his replacement. Names bandied about include former Knicks and Suns coach Mike D'Antoni to former Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, but none is more intriguing than Jackson, the former Lakers and Bulls coach. For some reason, whenever the Zen Master gets involved, people go crazy.

With the Lakers absolutely packed with star personalities and egos, maybe the only guy for the job is Jackson. After Bryant was filmed openly showing up Brown on the sidelines this week, and with some perplexing coaching decisions involving his fragile new big man Dwight Howard, it seemed like only a matter of time before Brown was out. But will Jackson be able to take a brand new team and coax them toward a championship? Moreover, will he even be willing to return to the sidelines? He's had knee and hip problems in recent years, but is apparently healing well, and there's no doubt that he can't seem to stay away from the game for long. A Kobe/Phil reunion should terrify the rest of the NBA.

UPDATE: ESPN's Marc Stein says that it may come down to Jackson and D'Antoni. Other sources saying Jackson's top assistants are ready to return if he is.

Marc Stein

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@ESPNSteinLine

MT @ramonashelburne: Source close to situation says Phil Jackson & D'Antoni are "neck and neck" for Lakers job