Phil Jackson was so distraught yesterday over Dave DeBusschere’s death, he declined to take questions about his second-round series in which his Lakers trail the Spurs 3-2.

Jackson could well be feeling his own mortality after his near-fatal brush last weekend when he needed angioplasty surgery for a 90-percent blockage in one of his arteries.

“Today was a day that was very sad for me, from a personal standpoint,” Jackson said. “Losing a friend and a teammate I played with for eight years that I admired very much as a basketball player and as a person in Dave DeBusschere.”

Jackson made another generic remark about the series, then got up and left the interview room. On a normal day, he usually engages the media for 10 to 15 minutes.