Jackson’s Decision on Hold

CHICAGO —  After six years and three Laker championships, Coach Phil Jackson returned to the United Center facing some of the same questions that surrounded him when he left the Chicago Bulls.

Jackson is not under contract for next season. A month ago, the Lakers announced they had discontinued negotiations on a contract extension because of its distractions. Since then, Jackson has put his chances of returning to the Lakers at 50-50.

At 58, Jackson could be done.

“I won’t think about it until after the season’s over,” Jackson said. “It’s a possibility. I’m waiting to see how this team responds. How well we do certainly is part of if I come back or not.”

Asked to rate his two coaching adventures, of raising Michael Jordan and the Bulls to their titles and blending the Lakers to theirs, Jackson was diplomatic.

“I wouldn’t even speculate,” he said. “It’s two different experiences.... Both of them are highly valued.”

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If it was his last time through town as a professional, Jackson did not sound as if he’d miss it.

“You just go through it,” he said. “It’s part of the schedule. You have to play every team. This is our turn in Chicago. I look forward to coming here. It’s a great day in Chicago. St. Patty’s was celebrated here on Michigan Avenue. So it was fun. But, it’s always a hassle coming into this park.”

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The championship seasons here were well represented, with Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant on the benches in suits, Jordan and John Paxson, now the Bulls’ general manager, in a team box and, of course, all of the banners.

Before the game, Jordan walked the hallways around the locker rooms but offered no opinion on Jackson continuing his career.

“None at all,” he said.

The golf game?

“Haven’t been playing,” he said, “sadly enough.”

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The Lakers’ depth at power forward lasted one game.

Grant will undergo his second MRI exam in 10 days on Monday. The Lakers hope it will determine the cause of pain in Grant’s right hip. He said Saturday night he’d sit out at least another week. He sat out five games because of the ailment, played 10 minutes Friday in Minnesota and knew, again, it was not right.

Sitting on the bench against the Timberwolves, Grant said, he also suffered back spasms, which he believed were related.

“I should have just rested it,” he said.

Believing Grant and Karl Malone were healthy, the Lakers put rookie Brian Cook on the injured list Friday. By rule, he must sit out five games.

“It’s a concern to us,” Jackson said of Grant’s injury. “The reality is he’s very important to what we’re trying to get accomplished here. We have to take a little more time with this rehabilitation.”

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Shaquille O’Neal didn’t explain much Saturday, but he did express displeasure with the two technical fouls that ran him from Monday’s game at Utah.

The problem, he said, was not so much with the fouls or the intent of them, but with referee Bob Delaney’s decision to give him technicals on both.

“Maybe flagrants,” he said.

As for ignoring the media for most of the week, O’Neal said, “I get tired of talking.”

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Michael Henderson refereed Saturday’s game, his first Laker assignment since blowing the 24-second call in Denver on Feb. 25. He lost three assignments for it.