Phil Jackson Reportedly Says No to the Cleveland Cavaliers

We’ve said it here before, but it speaks volumes about how highly Phil Jackson thinks of Kyrie Irving that he would even engage in a conversation with the Cleveland Cavaliers about their head coaching vacancy.

Not surprisingly though, according to ESPN, Phil has reportedly told the Cavs he’s not interested in the gig. There are a few layers to this other than a brief flirtation:

There’s a chance that Jackson never even considered the Cavs job in any way, but took the conversation to generate further interest in his name, making it perfectly clear to teams that he’s ready to return to the NBA.

It also sets the stage for Phil to pursue a job he may actually want (Lakers, Nets, etc.) in a role that he wants. We outlined this yesterday with his believed desire to create an existence similar to Pat Riley’s, where he gets to interact with the team and lead personnel, without, you know having to go coach games in Milwaukee in February. It doesn’t seem like Dan Gilbert was ready to open up his franchise to Phil in that way and Cleveland isn’t exactly Miami. While Cleveland is a great American city, it’s not the cosmopolitan metropolis that is Miami, L.A. or New York. For someone like Phil who clearly loves drama and living in the spotlight while he’s in NBA, Cleveland doesn’t doesn’t give him that rush.

Will Phil Jackson be in the NBA next season and where?

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