HoopsHype.com Rumors

As lawyers hammered out the contract this week, Woodson likely will get a three-year deal and could receive a package worth more than $10 million — a lot cheaper than Jackson’s rate of $10 million per year. The Knicks will play it low key, with no press conference, just a conference call. New York Post

New York Knicks, Mike Woodson, Phil Jackson, Coaching 

Roland Lazenby: The Occupy Phil Jackson movement is rapidly shifting from NY to LA. He can only play so much Scrabble. That boy was born to coach. Twitter

Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, Phil Jackson, Coaching 

Roland Lazenby: Phil's refreshed and rarin' to go? This will be interesting. Jerry Buss has always been mindful of selling tickets. That's his bottom line. Twitter

Los Angeles Lakers, Phil Jackson, Coaching 

Jackson has not received a single phone call from an NBA team looking for a coach. People close to the former Bulls and Lakers coach continue to say he "has the itch," and his longtime girlfriend, Jeanie Buss, said in an L.A. radio interview Friday, "He's got his energy back." But so far, not a whisper. Not an email. Not a text message, and certainly, not a phone call. CBSSports.com

Phil Jackson, Coaching 

For Jackson, the 11-time NBA champion and 66-year-old philosopher, his focus and fury has been trained on one goal. It's a long road back to health and youthfulness for Jackson, a road that he hopes leads him to, of all places, a tennis court by the end of the summer. That's right, the former Lakers coach with the fused spine, artificial hips and newly replaced knee is feeling so good, he expects to be stroking forehands and backhands -- and, by those, we don't mean he'll be slapping Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum around in the hopes of waking them up. CBSSports.com

Phil Jackson, Coaching 

Rehabbing in Los Angeles since undergoing knee replacement surgery in late March, Jackson can only sit back and hear his name, age, health and accomplishments disparaged. He's too old. Afraid to coach without Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant. A gold digger. A championship cherry-picker who would only return to the NBA sidelines to coach a ready-made champion -- or, for the paycheck. "It hurts," a Jackson confidante told me recently. "People need to know he is not dead, and he is not 70." CBSSports.com

Phil Jackson, Coaching 

As if Jackson, who played for the Knicks' last championship team in 1973, needs the Knicks' money more than the Knicks need his coaching. Never mind the fact that Jackson almost certainly wouldn't touch the roiling cauldron of dysfunction that is Madison Square Garden with his walking cane. The fact that the Knicks knew this -- knew their organization is so fraught with paranoia and pettiness that the greatest coach alive wouldn't roam the sidelines with somebody else's legs -- says all you need to know. CBSSports.com

New York Knicks, Phil Jackson, Coaching 

Jackson has recently confided in a close associate that he won't know if he'd be interested in the Knicks' job -- or any other, for that matter -- until the opportunity were presented to him. If the Knicks were interested in something other than putting on a good show, they'd stop playing games, pick up the phone and make that presentation. Maybe someone at CAA knows someone who knows someone who actually knows something about winning. CBSSports.com

New York Knicks, Phil Jackson, Coaching 

Despite his eccentric methods, Knicks owner James Dolan always seemed bent on breaking the Knicks championship drought, now at 39 years. Often, Dolan went about it the wrong way, but money never was an object. That is why close Dolan watchers are stunned the Knicks owner didn’t at least put a phone call out to Playa del Rey to gauge if Phil Jackson had interest in returning to the Knicks, where he owns a championship ring from their last title in 1973, when he was a reserve power forward. Jackson also owns a ring from the Knicks only other title — 1969 — but was on the sidelines with a back injury. New York Post

New York Knicks, Phil Jackson, Coaching, James Dolan 

Lakers executive Jeanie Buss, Jackson’s longtime girlfriend, was on Los Angeles radio Friday, saying Jackson “has his energy back.’’ Some took it as Jeanie sending a message across the country to Dolan. Not true. Contacted Saturday, Jeanie said she was just answering a question on Phil’s health. The Zen Master had knee replacement surgery 5 ½ weeks ago, and she contends he is fit. Jeanie confirmed there has been no contact from the Knicks, not even feelers. And that’s OK. “He’s walking better than he has in years and has his energy back and I have no idea if he even wants to coach again,’’ Jeanie said. “He’s lost weight. I didn’t mean for anyone to confuse that to mean he was asking for the Knicks job or trying to return to the Lakers.’’ New York Post

New York Knicks, Phil Jackson, Coaching, James Dolan 

Would he accept the Knicks job? She’s unsure. Nevertheless, there have been indications Jackson would not have hung up the phone if the Knicks called. New York Post

New York Knicks, Phil Jackson, Coaching, James Dolan 

Tommy Dee: Source tells me that the #knicks will reach out to Phil Jackson via "back channels"... Don't know who he is but sounds promising Twitter

New York Knicks, Phil Jackson, Coaching, James Dolan 

As The Post reported, Dolan never called coaching great Phil Jackson, though Jackson’s girlfriend, Lakers executive Jeanie Buss, said on Los Angeles radio yesterday, “He’s got his energy back.’’ New York Post

Phil Jackson, Coaching, Jeanie Buss 

Jeanie Buss, who has been dating Jackson since 2001, added credence to the rumors during an interview with “Mason and Ireland” on ESPN 710. She admitted that she believes he will coach again and agreed with the hosts when they speculated that Jackson would return to the sideline in the near future. Buss also erased any concerns about Jackson’s health. In recent years, Jackson had a number of health issues that factored into his decision to retire. In March, he underwent knee replacement surgery, which led many league sources to believe that his coaching career was over. They thought he would struggle with the daily grind, from traveling to running a practice. However, Buss confirmed that Jackson is doing well and that the knee replacement has allowed him to become more active than he’s been in years. HoopsWorld

Phil Jackson, Coaching, Jeanie Buss 

“He’s got his energy back,” Buss said. “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 8 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. I’m happy for him, that he’s out of pain, after watching him suffer for the last few years.” HoopsWorld

Phil Jackson, Coaching, Jeanie Buss 

League sources say that the Knicks haven’t contacted Jackson as of yet, but they’re expected to reach out to him in the coming weeks. While the team was impressed with Mike Woodson and the success he had in an interim role, they’ll still explore the possibility of hiring Jackson. Even though Woodson was 18-6 after taking over for Mike D’Antoni in March, he doesn’t have 11 championships on his résumé. HoopsWorld

New York Knicks, Mike Woodson, Phil Jackson, Coaching, Jeanie Buss 

If Stan Van Gundy is fired, the Orlando Magic is also an intriguing potential landing spot for Jackson. The Magic are desperate to keep Dwight Howard and hiring Jackson would show that they’re serious about contending. Jackson brings instant credibility to the Magic and Howard would have a much harder time explaining his decision to leave if the organization was able to deliver Jackson after his repeated cries for help. Jackson has expressed interest in coaching Howard and the center would love to play for the legendary coach, according to sources close to the situation. HoopsWorld

Orlando Magic, Phil Jackson, Coaching, Stan Van Gundy, Jeanie Buss 

The Knicks' anticipated tango with coaching legend Phil Jackson never materialized. According to multiple sources, the Knicks never contacted the Zen Master. The Knicks did not get the impression he was interested. But they will never know if he would have accepted the job because they never asked. According to a source, Jackson wanted Woodson to get the job. Jackson's mentor, Red Holzman, drafted Woodson, and the Knicks interim coach invoked Holzman's name often. New York Post

New York Knicks, Phil Jackson, Coaching 

One league source who has spoken to Jackson in recent months said the retired legend "told me he doesn't like Carmelo Anthony's game at all, and that he isn't a big fan of [Amare] Stoudemire's game, either." So assuming the 66-year-old Jackson isn't inspired to make a comeback by these flawed Knicks, and assuming he'd rather wait to see if Pat Riley makes a human sacrifice of Erik Spoelstra in case Miami places second again, Woodson deserves a contract extension as much as Van Gundy deserved his in 1996. ESPN.com

New York Knicks, Phil Jackson, Coaching 

Jackson isn’t enthralled with the Knicks' roster, a source who talks to him said, but that doesn’t mean he’d completely rule out the job. New York matters to him, and, so does money, the kind of money only the desperation of Dolan could dole out. Yes, Kentucky’s John Calipari will listen should the Knicks come calling with $8 million or $9 million a year, but New York doesn’t need Cal’s insecurities and frailties taking over the Garden. He’s a great college coach, but commanding the respect of teenagers and decidedly different pros have little in common. There’s no correlation getting big-time talented college kids to play together and keeping ‘Melo from telling you to “Bleep off,” when you challenge him. Yahoo! Sports

New York Knicks, Phil Jackson, Coaching