Lakers Bring Back Phil Jackson To Help With Coaching Search

The Los Angeles Lakers are reportedly pulling former coach and advisor Phil Jackson out of basketball retirement to assist the team's search for a championship-ready coach.

In LA, marquee names like Magic Johnson, Pat Riley and Jerry West left their respective marks within Lakers history. But none have reached the heights of Dr. Jerry Buss — architect of the Showtime Lakers — and Phil Jackson in their history of excellence.

ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski confirmed that Jackson — who coached the Lakers between 1999 and 2011 — now has a significant role in the hiring process.

“One person who is certainly significantly involved in this process is Phil Jackson,” Wojnarowski said. “He’s got a voice in this. He did last time when they hired Frank Vogel."

With a fresh start at the coaching position, fans were hoping that the Lakers would stray from their in-house consultation and go outside the box with their next head coach.

After all, Lakers owner Jeanie Buss and senior basketball advisor Kurt Rambis have failed to stir any momentum since the Lakers' 2020 Finals championship.

By bringing in Jackson — a 13-time NBA champion — LA opts to utilize all resources in their coaching search to break a bad streak of inconsistent results in the role.

A frontrunner for the Lakers job, landing slightly outside the norm, is Milwaukee Bucks assistant Darvin Ham.

Lakers fans have expressed high hopes of hiring the 48-year-old assistant out of the current pool of candidates; also including Utah's Quin Snyder, 76ers coach Doc Rivers and Raptors coach Nick Nurse. Nurse and Snyder have been reticent toward the Lakers rumors.

Still, the Lakers remain pressed with finding a return to winning basketball.

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