Phil Jackson not looking to coach Knicks or anybody else

Phil Jackson, the ex-Lakers coach, sat down for lunch by the beach on Thursday and talked with Mark Heisler, the ex-LA Times basketball columnist now writing hoops for the New York Times. In a Sunday piece in the NYT, Jackson says in response to chatter about the New York Knicks wanting him: “I have no desire to coach.”

“You never say never, right? I mean, there’s always something that might change my mind — but I just don’t see it."

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“I don’t miss it. I really don’t miss it. But I think I have to stick my finger into an electric socket every once in a while just to get a little jolt out of life to keep it going because that’s what gave me the joys, the jollies of life.”

Jackson does meditate, but a sign on his desk reads: “There are no Zen masters. There is only Zen.” He loves sanctuaries and appears to have one right now.

Lakers note: Three Orange County homes worth an estimated $18 million have been transferred to the ownership of Vanessa Bryant as part of her still-pending divorce settlement with Kobe Bryant, the LA Times says.

Crop of NYT file photo