He looked well-rested from a summer at his lakeside home in Montana, his face clean-shaven and tanned, his future still a bit murky but his health no longer an issue for now.
As Lakers Coach Phil Jackson sat before a news gathering Friday at the team's practice site, he spoke about a variety of subjects, none more important than his contract status.
Jackson, 64 and in the final year of a contract that pays him $12 million a season, looked at the talent and depth he has on this team as a reason to be open to coaching longer, because it's a team that has the opportunity to win multiple championships.
He said he has yet to have a conversation with Lakers owner Jerry Buss about coaching beyond this season, leaving Jackson in a "lame-duck situation" for now.
Most pressing for Jackson is preparing to open training camp Tuesday night.
He's looking forward to the Lakers' bid to repeat as NBA champions after they beat the Orlando Magic in five games to win the franchise's 15th title. He's looking forward to facilitating a "seamless" transition for new small forward Ron Artest, to attending the wedding of forward Lamar Odom this weekend and to see how his players perform under the spotlight and the distractions that come with being the titleholders.
Over the summer, Jackson got past some health issues that had forced him to miss a regular-season game, and he has declared himself fit.
Now he said that having a happy Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum, Odom and Artest all on board is reason enough to be looking at coaching longer.
"Without a doubt, there's all kind of reason to come back," Jackson said. "The only reason not to come back is you don't win. Health issues come up. Those are the only things. It gets too hard. It gets too long. Those are some issues. But other than that, we're just having a good ride."
Jackson recalled that when he signed an extension two years ago, Buss came up to him and asked about his possibly staying on longer.
Jackson said he wouldn't be surprised if the same thing happened this time.
"We're just going to see how the year goes," Jackson said.
Jackson spoke with Lakers management about having assistant Kurt Rambis succeed him as head coach. But management was unwilling to make that promise. Rambis took the head coaching job with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
"When I suggested that that set up a situation that would be a lame-duck situation, they said that they hoped that the duck wasn't lame," Jackson said.
