Mark & Brian, the morning talk show from LA, broadcast a caller stating that he has it on good authority, close to the family, that Phil Jackson is hanging it up.  The caller said that Jackson will go to his ranch in Montana for a month, think it through, then make it official.

While this can be disregarded as mere speculation, this caller has a history of accurate sports predictions.  And Jackson's health issues have been an evident barrier to his ability to coach. 

LA does have horses, and looks like a real contender for the next few years if they can stick together, stay healthy, and develop more backbone in the supporting cast.  But Jackson has an up and down relationship with Kobe.  The inevitable problems that the MV-Cancer will continue bringing to the franchise would make me, as an ailing coach with nothing really left to prove, question if it's worth the trouble. Jackson obviously is a serious person and he may have other things he feels he needs to do while he has the energy.

This possibility obviously begs the question, what impact would Jackson stepping down have on the ability of our LA rival to compete against our up and coming team?