NBA News - Phil Jackson: I May Have Gone To Seattle

Former Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls head coach Phil Jackson confirmed he had a serious conversation with Chris Hansen about accepting a position in the Sonics front office, had not the businessman's bid to bring the Kings to Seattle been rejected by the Board of Governors on Wednesday.

The 67-year old Jackson made a guest appearance on Jay Leno's late night show last Thursday, promoting his forthcoming book entitled "Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success."

Jackson, who retired from coaching in 2010, was asked by Leno to give his opinion on Seattle's failed bid to bring an NBA franchise back in the city, and the legendary head coach shared a wealth of details about the matter.  

"You know, I had communication with (Chris Hansen). It was serious talk. I thought he was a really good guy for the league; I thought he was going to be really terrific," Jackson said on the air.

The 11-time champion said Seattle could have been a great city to host a basketball team, but unfortunately things didn't work out as planned.

"I thought Seattle's a terrific town to have a basketball team. They lost one, unfortunately. They wanted one back. Didn't work out."

The Board of Governors voted on Wednesday to keep the Kings in Sacramento, forcing the Maloofs to sell 65 percent of controlling interest of the franchise to a group led by Vivek Ranadive for $535 million.

Jackson also shared his view on the Lakers and their chances of winning another NBA title under the tutelage of Mike D'Antoni.

The former Lakers head coach apparently believes D'Antoni has the capacity to lead the purple-and-gold to another NBA championship, saying he only needs to have the right personnel around him to make his system work.

When asked if he would be interested to coach the Lakers again if D'Antoni eventually gets fired, Jackson was a little bit pessimistic in his answers, insisting he may take a front office job  instead or at least recommend someone to coach the team.