Official Phil Jackson Quote Thread

By Bresnahan

Brian Shaw was definitely surprised the Lakers didn't hire Phil Jackson after firing Mike Brown this month. Shaw was particularly taken aback that they informed Jackson in a midnight phone call of their choice to hire Mike D'Antoni.

"Under the circumstances, Phil Jackson, who's been there and done that and put a lot of money in everybody's pockets around here, the way it was done . . . it's mind-boggling," Shaw said Monday in an interview with The Times. "I was joking with him, at least you got a phone call, even though it was midnight.

"In 11 years he was coach here, he took the team to the Finals seven times and won five. I don't know if any of the other 29 teams would have done him the way he was done [by the Lakers] after he had done so much for the organization and the city."

Shaw won three championships as a Lakers player under Jackson and was part of two more on Jackson's coaching staff from 2005 to '11. Shaw returns to Staples Center on Tuesday as the associate head coach of the Indiana Pacers, the right-hand man of Coach Frank Vogel.

Shaw didn't get a phone call from the Lakers after they fired Brown on Nov. 9.

"I'm in a good situation here in Indy, a situation where I have a job," he said. "After how things ended for all of us in L.A. at the end of that last season I was there, there's no reason for me to get my hopes up about anything because if that was the case, something different would have probably been done initially."

Shaw interviewed to replace Jackson after the 2010-11 season. He found out he didn't get the job after seeing media reports of Brown's hiring.

432J wrote:the whole shaw situation last year really changed my feelings about the lakers FO and jim buss in particular

but the way they treated phil throughout this year's coaching hoopla permanently changed how i think of the lakers FO. i already disliked buss but the way phil was treated throughout this whole thing was simply mindblowing and disgusting. there is no bigger problem on this team than jim buss

Weezy wrote:Keep opening the wounds V, keep opening the wounds.

Pig Miller wrote:"HAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAAHAHAHA" - Phil Jackson

Brian Shaw still can't get over one fact.

How could the Lakers pass up Phil Jackson in favor of Mike D'Antoni after winning five of his 11 NBA championships with the organization?

"Your guess is as good as mine," Shaw said before the Lakers played the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday at Staples Center. "It's mind-boggling. That's all I can say about it."

Shaw won three NBA titles with the Lakers (2000-2002) under Jackson and then won two more on his coaching staff from 2005 to 2011.

Shaw, the associate head coach of the Indiana Pacers, interviewed to replace Jackson following the 2010-11 season before the Lakers ultimately chose Mike Brown. Shaw said he found out he didn't get the job through media reports, leading him to joke with Jackson recently on how he learned he wasn't the chosen candidate.

"At least he got a phone call even if it was at midnight," said Shaw, who wasn't a candidate after the Lakers fired Brown earlier this month.

Lakers Assistant General Manager Ronnie Lester, who played for the team from 1984 to 1986 and was hired as a scout in '87, is one of at least 20 Lakers employees, including most of the team’s scouts, who will not have their contracts renewed because of the lockout. The team has told staffers whose contracts expired on June 30 or later that those contracts won’t be renewed, and their jobs may or may not be available to them once the lockout ends, according to the report.

"I'm not worried about myself, I'm worried about the other people on our staff that are really good and have young families and mortgages," Lester told the website ESPNLosAngeles.com. "I'll land on my feet, but those guys who aren't as established, I think they're in a little trouble.”

Last summer the Lakers offered Lester the option of signing a one-year contract at the same pay, or a three-year deal at a 30% pay cut. He took the one-year deal.

Lester was surprised and angered by the Lakers' treatment of loyal employees.

"It's awful funny that the Lakers, one of the highest-grossing teams in the league, could do this to their employees, just throw them out in the cold," he said. "The Lakers have not done a good job in communicating that to anybody whose contract has ended. Obviously the Lakers don't want these guys back, don't want the scouts back, or they would've said something in that regard.

"So I don't think anybody is coming back. They've not treated people well in that regard."

Phil Jackson ‏@PhilJackson11 28m
double fouls are chicken s__t calls...!

Phil Jackson ‏@PhilJackson11 13m
PULLLEZZZE

Phil Jackson ‏@PhilJackson11 1h
I hate it when coaches get on the floor-the floor is just for the players and refs

Phil Jackson ‏@PhilJackson11 12m
@JeanieBuss what's up girl?

JSM wrote:

Phil Jackson ‏@PhilJackson11 12m
@JeanieBuss what's up girl?