New York Knicks Ex Phil Jackson Has New Role with LeBron's Lakers

Knicks ex Phil Jackson is “significantly involved” in the Lakers search committee.

The Los Angeles Lakers made the decision earlier in this NBA offseason to part ways with head coach Frank Vogel.

And now the search is on, not only to attempt to return the Lakers to their usual glory, and not only to make big decisions on a star-studded roster featuring  LeBron James and Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook, but first ...

To hire a replacement for Vogel who can be in charge of the reload.

Jackson, Buss, LeBron and AD

Jackson, LeBron

LeBron and Bronny

Phil Jackson, at age 76, is no longer that guy. But the storied career of the former New York Knicks player, most certainly as a head coach, makes him uniquely qualified to help with the search ...

And his relationship with Jeanie Buss, a prominent member of the Lakers ownership family, probably makes it a nice fit as well.

The Lakers not making the playoffs - or even the play-in tournament - is not only an embarrassment for Los Angeles; in a sense, it serves as an embarrassment for the league (not that the other teams in the West harbor any sympathy for them.)

But just as many believe the NBA is better when the Knicks are a contender (some day!), the dynastic Lakers add appeal to fans and media.

So the former Lakers head coach Jackson, per reports, is "advising" the team on its just-underway head coaching search.

Some of the names reportedly being kicked around include Bucks assistant Darvin Ham, ESPN analyst Mark Jackson and Michigan’s Juwan Howard, along with others. And Jackson - leader of the Bulls powerhouse teams before landing in L.A., where he coached the Lakers from 1999 to ’04 and ’05 to ’11 and won five championships with the franchise - per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, is right in the middle of it.

Phil Jackson,  According to Jackson is “significantly involved” in the team’s search committee.

“He’s got a voice in this,'' Wojnarowski said. “They are moving deliberately. They are not doing seven, eight or nine candidates all at once. They are kind of going down a list and taking their time.”