DENVER – Kobe Bryant said yesterday during All-Star festivities he believes there’s a real chance his Lakers will steal Phil Jackson away from the Knicks.
While Bryant said he can envision Jackson taking on the Knicks’ rebuilding project, adding the Zen Master “loves New York,” Bryant said don’t count Jackson out of the Lakers’ mix just because of their reported feud.
“I never considered it a longshot,” Bryant said. “I think it’s a real possibility.”
When The Post asked if he really felt that way, Bryant responded, “Yeah, I do.”
Would he have to meet with Jackson to settle the differences that seemed to widen after Jackson’s kiss-and-tell book?
“I don’t think so,” Bryant said. “We didn’t talk then [when he was first hired]. I really don’t suspect us talking now. We won three titles then. Hopefully we’ll win three more. It doesn’t matter to me.”
The Lakers are currently run by assistant Frank Hamblen, who is 2-5 as interim coach with a team that is no guarantee to make the playoffs.
Bryant, who faces former teammate Shaquille O’Neal tomorrow in the All-Star Game at the Pepsi Center, can envision Jackson winding up back in New York, where he played most of his NBA career.
“I think he can adapt anywhere,” Bryant said. “He’s a great coach. I think he can coach anywhere and can to adapt to anything. He loves New York.”
Jackson has never taken on a losing program, however, building his nine championships with teams on the cusp of winning it all. Plus, sources close to Jackson believe Stephon Marbury, who inadvertently endorsed his former coach, Flip Saunders, might not be the right point guard to run the triangle offense.
“Phil, you never know,” Bryant said. “He just loves challenges. He can adapt to any situation. I have no doubt whoever he works for, he’ll do a masterful job.”
Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, Minnesota’s Kevin Garnett was putting in a good word for Saunders, thinking he’d make a good fit with the Knicks because of Marbury. Saunders would be the Knicks’ fallback candidate if they can’t land Jackson or Larry Brown. It’s a big drop-off.
“I think it would be great to see [Saunders] and Steph reunited,” Garnett said. “I think he’d do a great job. He’s an excellent coach. Just because here it didn’t work out with us [the Timberwolves], I don’t think it means he wouldn’t work elsewhere.”
Jackson’s girlfriend, Lakers executive Jeanie Buss, who is the daughter of owner Jerry Buss, is pushing for Jackson to return to the Lakers.
Even with MVP favorite LeBron James in town with hype of becoming the NBA’s greatest player ever, Bryant is still the magnet. He’s back in Colorado, 45 minutes from where he was charged last year in Eagle County for a sexual assault in his hotel room.
The Lakers are no longer the cream of the West, but Bryant is enjoying this season better than the last when he was in and out of court. “It’s been a blessed year,” Bryant said. “I’m happy doing what I’m doing. I’m just playing basketball. I just have a lot of weight off my shoulders. I don’t have a bag of bricks on me.”
As for facing Shaq again, Bryant said their relationship has “smoothed out a little. He’s in the East doing his thing. I’m trying to make the playoffs. I’m hoping it won’t take away from the game.”
Bryant gave his kudos to Shaq when asked which team had the better starting center, the East or West with Yao Ming, asking: “What are you kidding me?”
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3-pt. Shootout
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