Ex-Laker Jackson Tied To Seattle Group's Plan To Buy Kings

The NBA was abuzz this week with the news that the Sacramento Kings may be moving their team to Seattle pending a sale of the team. That deal didn't go through, but now fans are finding out what they may have missed out on.

Apparently, ex-Laker coach Phil Jackson was in talks with the investment group that was attempting to move the team to Seattle. From the looks of it, Jackson would have had a prominent role in team affairs.

"I had communication with the guy that's trying to make this move," Jackson said on the Tonight Show, referencing Chris Hansen, the ringleader of the Seattle bid. "It was serious talk. I thought he was a really good guy for the league."

It was not disclosed if Jackson would be the head coach for the new Seattle team or would instead just be a business executive, taking on a more managerial role with the team. Though reports have surfaced lately that Jackson has been interested in getting back into coaching and certainly, if he wanted to nobody would stop him.

By all accounts, Jackson may be the best coach of all-time in any sport. He boasts a career winning percentage of over 70% and has amassed a total of 11 championships as a coach during a time of increased parity and competition in the NBA. Perhaps most impressively, he has won those 11 championships in a mere 20 seasons.

Though it was unknown what his role would be, it was contingent on Seattle actually landing the bid. That fell through this week after NBA owners turned down the owner's of the Kings (the Maloof family) sale of the team to Hansen's group. The Maloofs would eventually sell to a group with plans to keep the Kings in Sacramento.

"I like Sacramento," Jackson said, adding, "Well, not that much."

This is the second time that Seattle has failed to attract the Kings to mover from Sacramento, with the last bid occurring in 2011. The Seattle SuperSonics left the city in 2008 and reorganized as the Oklahoma City Thunder.