LOS Angeles Lakers head coach Phil Jackson wants to be back with the team next season.
Jackson stopped short of saying a contract extension was a certainty, but believes that unlike a year ago his health will not be a determining factor. The 64-year-old Jackson, who has had hip replacement operations since 2006 and an angioplasty to clear a blocked heart artery in 2003, said last June he did not know if his health would allow him to continue coaching before he was given the all-clear to return this season.
“The wear and tear of a season, I think, affects everybody, the travel and whatever else you have to do for an extended time,” he said.
“All that being said, I’m as mobile as I’ve ever been in the last three years.
“I’m dealing with less arthritic elements that are painful things going on as you age.
“But there are still considerations as to the duration that I will coach, simply because I have to stay attuned to that.”
The Lakers won the NBA title last year, the fourth for Jackson with the team. He won six as head coach of the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s. (Reuters)