ItsTheBlog™

Phil Jackson has agreed to two-year contract extension to remain in Los Angeles through 2010. Who'd of thought?

All the signs were pointing against this one. Kobe wants out. The Lakers blow (sorta), and tensions have been high with just about everyone in the Lakers front office. Buss got a DUI, and no one likes the way Kupchak handles things.

So why does Phil stay?

Rewind about a month. It looked like everything was about the blow up in La-La land. Kobe was on a tirade, and about to be moved any second. Phil was friends with Kobe, then mad at Kobe. And Phil said he'd revisit the extension issue around Thanksgiving time.

Fast forward to now. The Lakers are a modest, yet decent 8-6, good for 2nd place in the Pacific Division. No one expected the Lakers to be here at this point in time--probably especially not Phil. They've knocked off some high-quality opponents, including Phoenix, Houston, and Detroit. Kobe's shut his mouth for the time being, and the bench is playing much better than anyone expected.

In other words, Phil's worked some of his magic to calm everyone down, and now he's even made Kobe realize, it seems, that L.A.'s not so bad.

Plus, it probably helps that he's still dating the boss' girlfriend. I'm sure that had a bit of an impact.

Either way, great news for Lakers fans, and he'll make between $11 and $12 million over the next couple years.

Can we get a solid free agent to come to LA in the offseason to appease Kobe and get back into title contention? Perhaps this is the first step.

Labels: basketball, Jerry Buss, Kevdog, Kobe, Lakers, NBA, Phil Jackson