With the Bulls poised to win their fourth NBA championship, Phil Jackson said Monday he might leave coaching shortly after he completes this masterpiece if he cannot secure a satisfactory contract.
“Montana is an option for next year,” Jackson admitted in an interview, referring to his native state and summer retreat. “There might not be any jobs open in the league if I don’t keep this one, so I’m fully prepared to take a season off if things don’t work out here, and then see what happens.”
Jackson’s contract expires July 1 and negotiations, like the clouds composing Seattle’s sky, are double-parked. With bonuses for the impending title, Jackson’s 1995-96 base salary of $866,000 will grow to about $1 million, well below league standards for peers not nearly as decorated as he.
The Bulls’ last offer on a new deal was $1.65 million. Neither Jackson nor his Chicago-based representative, Todd Musburger, will reveal their asking price, but feel free to assume it to be in the $3 million range.
“I would like to think it will work out,” Jackson said. “But I just don’t know. It will be interesting. Whatever, one way or another, it has to happen quickly.
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to close out the Finals here. But the NBA draft is June 26. They will want to have a coach in place by then. If not me, then someone else.”
Jackson, in his seventh year with the Bulls, owns a remarkable regular-season record of 414 victories and 160 defeats. That includes this year’s 72-10, an all-time NBA best. His playoff mark of 80-29 is no less impressive.
Jackson’s boss, Bulls Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, is a proponent of pay-for-performance. Jackson has produced better results than any current NBA coach, and a few retired legends too. But Reinsdorf, who made a fortune in real estate, might not be inclined to bid when market value is high, and Jackson’s couldn’t be stronger.
Also, without a trace of anxiety or bitterness, Jackson volunteered another possible stumbling block.
“Jerry Reinsdorf is the most powerful owner in sports,” he said. “He is the owner of the ’90s and he’s trying to make a statement about who’s worth what and about holding the line on salaries. I understand that. We just want the Bulls to understand our position.”
Jackson couldn’t be more accurate on one count. Reinsdorf is shocked and amazed at some of the money-slinging, such as the New Jersey Nets’ recent agreement with John Calipari, who left the college ranks for a $15 million windfall in his first pro venture.
“What’s fair anymore?” Reinsdorf said here Monday. “Everybody’s caught up in a pure dollar amount, but there are a lot of different ways to structure a deal. Phil will be first in line. We can’t even talk to Michael Jordan before July 1.
“Phil is a great coach, we want him back, and I think we can reach a number that’s fair to both sides. I think I’ll be right, but I’ve been wrong before.”
Jackson, 50, has hinted before about taking a sabbatical. Even if he were to strike a deal with the Bulls, he intends to coach them just two more years. If there’s an impasse, he imagines spending increased time in Montana and with his family in the north suburbs of Chicago, where twin sons Ben and Charlie are about to become high school seniors.
“If I don’t coach next season,” Jackson said. “I could do some television or public speaking. Then if I want to coach the year after, I could see what’s out there.”
Jackson is admired throughout the NBA. Even Monday, counterpart George Karl all but admitted that his gravely ill SuperSonics are down 0-3 in this Finals series because the Bulls have more talent in street clothes too.
“I love the way they play basketball, even with Dennis Rodman pulling all his tricks,” Karl said. “And I really admire the way Phil uses his people, substituting guys for two or three minutes so effectively. It’s like he keeps pinch-hitting players who are batting .200 and they come in and get a triple.”
But clearly, Jackson’s best campaign manager is also the best player ever, Michael Jordan, another free agent.
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“We’ve discussed our situations,” Jackson said. “I appreciate Michael’s support and I don’t know, if I left, whether that would bode well for Michael staying. I don’t think he would retire. I think he might go play somewhere else, but that’s his decision if it comes to that.”
Jackson admitted that, between game preparation, he is trying to spend as much quality time possible with members of his coaching staff.
“We’ve talked a lot, taken walks down around the waterfront at night,” Jackson said. “This is a special time for us. The season is winding down. There’s always change. It would be very difficult for me to leave this team, Michael and Scottie Pippen, all of them. But the other side is, you know, this is probably as good as it gets. It probably won’t get any better than this.”