Laker Coach Phil Jackson Radio Interview

Posted by fijidaddy on September 5, 2007 | Filed Under Phil Jackson

lakers-coach-phil-jacksonLakers head coach Phil Jackson will be inducted into the National Basketball Hall of Fame this weekend.

He was on the Los Angeles am570 sport radio show, loose cannons this afternoon. Some of the key topics discussed in the interview were whether he has involvement in the off season decisions that the Lakers make this summer. He stated that he did and went on to talk about the resignings of key players like Chris Mihm, Derek Fisher and Luke Walton.

Phil emphasized that Mihms rehab was a lengthy process, and he has worked really hard to get back to where he should be. When talking about Derek Fisher, he said that he was one of his favorite players. And Luke Walton is an example of team basketball, and has taken him as a son.

When asked if Lamar Odom’s play was a disappointment since he’s been a Laker, Phil said that he has told Lamar on many occasions that he loves having him on the team. He believes that he is a very compassionate teammate and respects everybody. The one thing that made a lot of sense was when he said that often people expectations of Lamar’s game play is a total misrepresentation of what it really is. Phil really believed that last season could have been Lamar’s best performing season, but was halted to reaching that due to multiple injuries.

Phil said he never thought he would make a good head coach, and actually took the job as an assistant by default. But took the liberty to put himself in situations where he could learn the discipline of being a head coach, like coaching basketball in Puerto Rico.

The question of Andrew Bynum came later on in the interview. Matt “Money” Smith asked, “what do you think of Andrew Bynum?”
Phil replied, “I think he is a great talent……but he is still a kid.” He went on to say that he is under a lot of pressure to produce highly this season, especially since being mentioned by the media in trade talks for seasoned veterans and all star players like Jermaine Oneal. Phil believes he has the potential to be an all star caliber player, but that is yet to be seen.

Here is the full podcast of the interview, enjoy and let me know your thoughts:

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