LOS ANGELES — Like a lot of folks, albeit ones making millions less than he does, Phil Jackson rises every morning and swears it’s the last season he’s going to coach the Lakers.
So far, he’s kept coming back for more. Jackson wraps up his 10th season with the team tonight, when the Lakers and Celtics play a deciding Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
A victory by the Lakers would help Jackson extend his record to 11 titles.
It will be Jackson’s first Game 7 in the Finals with Los Angeles, although he went the distance coaching the Bulls in the Finals.
“I can’t imagine myself going through this again,” he said Wednesday. “It’s not only a lot of fun, but it’s a lot of stress and pain and anxiety, etc. But it’s something you get acclimated to.”
So is the drama that has unfolded in recent summers on whether Jackson will or won’t return to the bench. He’s a lame duck, working the final year of his contract, with no word on a possible extension.
Jackson turns 65 in September. He has undergone two hip replacement operations since October 2006 — using a cane at various times — and walks with a noticeable hitch in his step. Unlike last season, though, he didn’t miss any games this year for health reasons.
Told by a reporter that his health appears to be at its best for the first time in a while, he replied: “I dispute that, but it’s still nice of you to say that.
“I think we have a built-in memory system in our bodies to forget — it’s like mothers giving birth. Somehow they do it again even though it’s one of the most difficult things to ever do.”
Jackson typically decides whether to return after an offseason physical.
His 10 NBA titles are a record for a coach, and he has a history of winning them in threes. He guided the Bulls to three straight from 1991-93, and another three from 1996-98.
He joined the Lakers in June 1999, and they took to him immediately, winning three consecutive championships. They lost to Detroit in the 2004 Finals and to Boston two years ago before winning it all last year.
Jackson notched his 224th career playoff victory in Game 6 on Tuesday, moving him past hockey Hall of Famer Scotty Bowman (223) for the most postseason wins by any coach in North America’s four major pro team sports — the NBA, NHL, NFL and Major League Baseball.
“That’s a lot of wins,” he said. “It’s great to have been standing and have been able to have these kind of teams, just a wonderful factor. But it’s not going to be any significant thing that I’m going to remember.”
• Celtics center Kendrick Perkins’ sprained right knee will keep him out of tonight’s game. Rasheed Wallace or Glen Davis likely will start in Perkins’ place.
• Television ratings for Tuesday night’s game on ABC drew a 12.3 overnight rating, down 4 percent from the 12.8 for Boston’s lopsided clinching Game 6 victory in 2008. The Lakers’ victory forced a rare Game 7 — just the third in 22 years — and the chance for a big rating.
