Phil Jackson's Going In ... And On Way Out?

Into the Hall, down to the crossroads . . .

Ten days from his 62nd birthday, with nine NBA titles, still walking with a cane after hip replacement surgery, Phil Jackson is entering the Basketball Hall of Fame. If you're wondering what's left for him with the Lakers, so is he.

"This could well be my last year of coaching," Jackson said before flying to Springfield, Mass., for tonight's induction. "I'm not saying it is but it could be.

"I think I have an outstanding offer to sign up again, but I have held that back because of my recovery. . . .

"Then there's the basis of how well the team does. . . . If this team doesn't move forward quickly, and that's, I think, the second round of the playoffs, then I think we have to reconsider."

Jackson, who had a second hip replacement in June, didn't come back to rebuild, any more than owner Jerry Buss hired him back at $10 million a year to make the first round of the playoffs.

Looming above everything is the possibility that this will be Kobe Bryant's last season here too, assuming that last season wasn't his last here

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source : latimes.com