Brooklyn Nets Show Considerable Interest In Phil Jackson

Early on in the 2012-13 NBA season, the Brooklyn Nets made a bold decision to part ways with head coach Avery Johnson. Although the Nets weren’t struggling enough to dictate the firing of Johnson, things clearly weren’t going right in Brooklyn with certain players failing to see eye-to-eye with the veteran head coach.

As the result of things not working out as anticipated, Johnson was let go and the immediate future of the franchies was put in the hands of interim head coach P.J. Carlesimo. Despite leading the Nets into the playoffs and the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference, Carlesimo was not retained by the Nets after failing to lead them to the second round of the playoffs by losing to the Chicago Bulls in seven games.

The fact that the Nets were favored in Las Vegas odds to advance to the second round may have been the reason for Carlesimo’s dismal. Considering the circumstances, Carlesimo did pretty well in Brooklyn before being told he won’t be retained, but it appears the team may have their sights set on a bigger fish.

Reportedly, the Nets are interested in bringing in 11-time NBA champion Phil Jackson to take over for Carlesimo. Jackson has been linked with the Nets for quite some time with Russian owner Mikhail Prokhorov willing to break the bank for his services.

Although the Nets’ front office is in hot pursuit of Jackson’s services to come in and take over for Carlesimo, the Hall of Famer has been reluctant to return to the game in any capacity. Despite that being the case, Jackson has been rumored to be considering a return to the league in some form or another.

Jackson was most recently linked the Toronto Raptors in terms of taking the basketball operations as the team’s president, but it’s uncertain how serious the Zen Master is considering the opportunity. The Nets’ opportunity may change everything for Jackson.