Report: There are powerful people close to Lakers who ‘aren’t thrilled’ with Phil Jackson’s role in coaching search

It was recently reported that the Los Angeles Lakers are leaning on legendary former head coach Phil Jackson in their current head coaching search.

The report revealed that the former Lakers head coach is “significantly involved” in the current process. Now, an update on that story has offered some insight into how some powerful individuals close to the Lakers feel about Jackson’s role in the search. It sounds like those powerful people are not so happy about it.

“Make no mistake, there are powerful people close to the Lakers who aren’t thrilled with the reality that Jackson’s voice is being taken into account when he has no formal position with the franchise,” Sam Amick of The Athletic reported. “Like it or not, though, [Jeanie] Buss has relied on this sort of informal counsel from people she trusts for years now. That was the case with Kobe Bryant before his passing and had everything to do with the choice to hire his former agent, Lakers vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka, in February 2017.”

There’s no doubt that Jackson is one of the greatest NBA coaches in history. He won 11 NBA titles as a head coach and has always been heralded as something of a basketball genius.

However, it is somewhat odd to see him brought in for the crucial decision that the Lakers now face. After suffering one of the most disappointing seasons in recent memory in the 2021-22 campaign, the Lakers need to bounce back in a big way.

Of course, making the right head coaching hire could very well make all the difference in their ability to do just that. How Jackson will really help in that pursuit is still unknown, and it also seems that the Lakers are running the risk of having too many cooks in the kitchen when it comes to the decision.

Either way, the facts are the facts, and Jackson will certainly have his fingerprints on the decision if the reports are accurate. How many feathers his inclusion truly ruffles remains to be seen.