Phil Jackson had been a thorn in the side of the Los Angeles Lakers ever since he retired as the team's coach in 2011.
Until now, which begs the question of an ulterior motive.
The coach who owns an NBA-record 11 championship rings has come to his former team's aide by reaching out to mercurial center Dwight Howard about returning to the Lakers via Twitter, ProBasketballTalk.com reported.
Jackson's tweet to Dwight Howard said, quoting the Taj Majal song "Going Up To The Country, Paint My Mailbox Blue:"
"@dwighthoward "i'm going up to the country going to paint my mailbox blue." While i'm there I expect to see you get on board
tis ur place(.)"
Jackson has a home in Montana; what he does not have is any official capacity with the Lakers organization, other than maintaining boyfriend status with Lakers executive and co-owner Jeanie Buss.
Is Jackson simply trying to help Buss, or does he envision a deeper relationship with the organization in the near future?
He has been critical of the Lakers ever since they reached out to him after firing coach Mike Brown five games into the 2012-13 season, only to hire Mike D'Antoni instead.
As recently as two weeks ago, Jackson called the Lakers "a mess" financially, ProBasketballTalk.com reported. Several media outlets have speculated that he is trying to stay in the spotlight with his new book, "Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success" having recently been published.
Other conspiracy theories include Jackson's impending return as D'Antoni's replacement. D'Antoni struggled to get the Lakers in the playoffs after taking over for Brown last season, and Howard reportedly has been critical of D'Antoni's coaching philosophy.
That has led to speculation that Howard will leave the Lakers when he becomes a free agent. Media reports have surfaced saying that Howard will not ask the Lakers to fire D'Antoni, but the coach has not yet reassembled his coaching staff for the 2013-14 season.
The absence of assistant coaches on the Lakers has fueled speculation that general manager Mitch Kupchak still could remove D'Antoni quickly if needed.
And as long as Jackson still is unemployed, he will continue to be linked to the Lakers' head coaching job.
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