Jackson no microphone fan

LOS ANGELES -- So, Los Angeles coach Phil Jackson was asked beforehand, was it official that he was to going to be wearing the NBA-mandated microphone during Thursday night's nationally televised game with San Antonio?

"Yes, I've been told," Jackson said.

During the telecast, Jackson was shown shouting instructions from the bench. Guard Jordan Farmar, who also was miked, was shown encouraging teammates as they walked off the court during a timeout.

Jackson thinks it's an intrusion into a team's inner workings but has decided not to fight the NBA's new rule that coaches have to be miked for these nationally televised games.

"They've got some things that have to be worked out before we all feel comfortable with it," he said.

Jackson said talking about the game "in the moment" will be very different from making post-game remarks.

"As I was telling the people that are running this ... many times I've asked the general managers and our support staff, our ballboys, our crack medical crew, to all step out of the room so it's just the players and myself," he said. "So it's pretty hard to accept somebody inside that inner circle that's not inside your group."

Jackson said he would behave during the telecast.

"I'm not worried about my own behavior," he said. "I am concerned about inhibiting behavior. It just changes the dynamics of what you do because you're not natural ... It's just the fact that someone's watching."

Jackson was asked if he might lodge some kind of protest while on the air.

"I hope so," he said, smiling.

In other news, Jackson signed his two-year, $24 million extension Wednesday. He has an option for the second year, and Jackson was asked to explain what that means.

"It's always an option to quit," he said, laughing. "I'll just decide I'm not going in. I quit."

"It's an option that I think is responsible, from my standpoint," he added, "as to how it's going, how well we're doing, and then can we move this club forward quickly enough? I think that's the process; that's the measure of all things."

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)