«I think it's going to be a really exciting year. I believe we'll make the playoffs. I have a lot of confidence in that.»

«I think he had really kind of made up his mind somewhere during the year that he was going to leave. I don't think I really recognized that.When I told him what kind of team I wanted, what kind of exciting basketball I wanted to play ... Of course Kobe wanted to play the same kind of basketball and that's how we got together.»

«You're sitting and watching, and it's like a miracle unfolding in front of your eyes and you can't accept it. Somehow, the brain won't work. The easiest way to look at it is everybody remembers every 50-point game they ever saw. He had 55 in the second half.»

«We're very pleased to have Phil return to the Lakers as our head coach, ... His record speaks for itself and his success in this sport is unparalleled. Quite simply, Phil is the best coach in the business and probably the greatest coach of all time.»

«[In a rebuttal to recent published reports, Lakers owner Jerry Buss said that he has not reached any understanding with Jackson about returning as Lakers coach and denied that Jackson wants the role of team president. Jackson said Saturday night that he would wait until June to make a decision about returning to coaching. He said he was still trying to gauge his emotional and mental readiness after 11 months away from basketball.] Phil has very definitely told me that he is capable of coaching, ... He has not told me whether he wants to coach or not. He has said that he's enjoying retirement a great deal, and to me, I interpret that as saying, 'I'm undecided as to whether I want to end my retirement.'»

«We're very pleased to have Phil return to the Lakers as our head coach. His record speaks for itself and his success in this sport is unparalleled. Quite simply, Phil is the best coach in the business and probably the greatest coach of all time.»