NBA Betting Enthusiasts Wonder if Phil Jackson Would Leave the Lakers

The Lakers will be relaxed and liked in NBA gambling as the Western Conference Finals start on Monday. 

The Lakers are favored in NBA betting to win versus Phoenix in the Western Conference Finals and they are favored to proceed on and earn the NBA title.  Would the Lakers be this kind of a favorite in basketball betting next year if head coach Phil Jackson was not on the sidelines? 

Jackson is making a reported $12.5 million dollars this year as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers.  There are reports that owner Jerry Buss is not willing to pay him nearly that much to return next season. "It's been indicated there will be a salary cut but not. I'm not going to say 'down,' that's kind of weird to say stuff like that," said Jackson. "It's still a ridiculous salary whatever it is." The reports are that Buss wants to put Jackson’s salary at $5 million for next season.  "A lot of it has to do with the direction the league is going, the direction the ownership wants to go in," Jackson said. "People are cutting costs all around the league, and coaches are obviously going to take a cut too, so they may not even want to hire me. They may want to save some money." 

The main component as to whether he will return might be more about his legacy than the cash.  If the Lakers win the NBA Finals they would go into next season with a shot to win three straight. That might be motivation enough for He to return to Los Angeles for another season. If the LA Lakers are upset in either the Western Conference finals by the Phoenix Suns or in the NBA Finals, it is almost assured that he won’t return. 

If the Lakers are running for three in a row it is pretty like that Buss and Jackson will need to achieve some sort of agreement on salary next season.  If the Lakers lose then it will be a moot issue and he will likely coach elsewhere or retire. Earlier this month Jackson said that there is definitely a possibility he will retire after this season. 

He got his start as a pro American basketball player, drafted by the New York Knicks in 1967. He retired from the game in 1980 and coached lower-level professional leagues until being hired as an assistant coach for the Chicago Bulls in 1987. He took over the Lakers in 1999 and quickly produced results. Despite some well-publicized animosity between Lakers star Kobe Bryant and Jackson, he has been successful with the team since. He became only the 6th coach to win 1000 games on Christmas Day 2008, and the fastest one to do so. In February 2010 he guided Los Angeles to his 534th win as their coach, surpassing Pat Riley as the Lakers coach with the most wins. 

He is viewed as the best NBA coach in the league currently and there are quite a few people who consider him the best coach of all-time.  If the LA Lakers win the NBA title again this season there sure isn't much discussion left.

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