Phil Jackson being passed over by the Los Angeles Lakers in favor of head coach Mike D’Antoni still seems to be a sore subject for Magic Johnson.
The Hall of Famer and former face of the storied franchise made an appearance on 710 ESPN’s Max and Marcellus on Tuesday and the topic of D’Antoni came up. Magic said the following about the Lakers not bringing in Jackson:
“I’m just sitting here wondering — we could’ve had Phil Jackson and he could’ve used both of those big men in the triangle. Your making me go crazy right now because that is what I envisioned.”
Clearly, Magic is still disappointed the team didn’t bring Phil back for a third stint with the team. Even though Phil has recently said he might have not been physically healthy enough to coach the Lakers when offered the job last year, it was a foregone conclusion the 11-time NBA champion would be hired.
It’s no secret that Lakers fans were dying to have Jackson back on the bench leading this team from the sidelines. Everyone was all for the return of Phil with Dwight Howard going as far as to ask the team to bring him in.
Obviously, the Lakers front office chose to go in a much different direction with D’Antoni resulting in the team barely making the playoffs and losing Dwight in free agency. There’s no telling whether or not Phil would’ve been successful once again a third time around, but many believe, including Magic, that the team and future of the franchise would’ve been in a much better position than they’re today.
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