When the news broke that the Lakers had decided to fire their now ex-coach Mike Brown late last week, the internet went into a frenzy!! on social networks from twitter to facebook; the public, basketball fans around the world, basket ball players, ESPN, Lakernation, star players from the Lakers team, etc. began to speculate that Phil Jackson might come out of retirement and comeback to coach the lakers.

CLICK HERE TO READ PHIL JACKSON’S STATEMENT

While millions were begging for Lakers to get Phil Jackson back, others began to circulate rumors about Jackson, pertaining to ridiculous demands he reportedly made in order for him to come out of retirement such as; demanding ownership of a portion of the team, traveling with the team, and more. Jackson’s agent made it clear that these rumors were completely false.

Jackson went on to talk about the night he got the call from the Lakers, how he had confidence in returning to coach the team, his love for the fans, how he was blindsided by the Lakers unprecedented decision to go with Mike D’Antoni and much more.

HERE’S THE FULL PUBLIC STATEMENT:

“he never had the chance to even lay out his terms for taking the job.”

“Saturday morning, (Lakers executive) Jim Buss called to ask if he could come and visit. I didn’t solicit or ask for the opportunity but I welcomed both him and (team executive) Mitch Kupchak into my home to discuss the possibility of my return to the Lakers as head coach,” Jackson said in the statement posted on the L.A. Times website.

“We talked for over an hour and a half. No contractual terms were discussed and we concluded with a handshake and an understanding that I would have until Monday come back to them with my decision.

“I did convey to them that I did have the confidence that I could do the job. I was awakened at midnight Sunday by a phone call from Mitch Kupchak. He told me that the Lakers had signed Mike D’Antoni to a three-year agreement and that they felt he was the best coach for the team. The decision is of course theirs to make. I am gratified by the groundswell of support from the Laker fans who encouraged my return and it is the principal reason why I considered the possibility.”
Jackson’s agent, Tod Musburger told the paper that reports of Jackson making outrageous demands – including ownership of the team and limited travel withthe Lakers — were wrong.

“No discussion of those ideas being contractual terms or demands was ever made,” Musburger said. “They had a full discussion of the club, the roster, the schedule, assistants, etc. But to allow someone either on their side or on D’Antoni’s side to make these allegations — unsubstantiated and incorrect — and incorrectly maligning Phil is so objectionable to us that the process would have concluded this way.”