Phil Jackson leaning toward retirement

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) - Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson is leaning toward retirement, but will wait until next week to make his final decision.

The 11-time NBA champion said Wednesday he'll get the results of another battery of medical tests before deciding whether to end his matchless coaching career, but Jackson sounds increasingly likely to head for retirement after the Lakers' second straight title.

"Some of it's about health," Jackson said. "Some of it is just the way I feel right now. It's hard not to think about coming back ... but it's what I feel like right now."

After going through exit interviews with his players at the Lakers' training complex, the 64-year-old Jackson gave the strongest indication yet that he's ready to walk away.

Jackson is the winningest playoff coach in NBA history, with 225 postseason victories and two more titles than Boston's Red Auerbach. His Lakers beat the Boston Celtics in a seven-game NBA finals last week for the franchise's 16th championship.

The Lakers uniformly said they want Jackson back next season, with Kobe Bryant saying the club would be "drastically different" without Jackson's steady, cerebral presence on the sideline.

Jackson said his inclination to leave the Lakers isn't about money or dissatisfaction with the organization. He mostly wants to get away from the grind of NBA travel and the nine-month season, particularly after three straight trips to the finals.

Yet Jackson also acknowledges he's intrigued by the possibility of going for a third consecutive championship for the fourth time in his career.

"My intention was that if we won the second time, to go for a threepeat would be natural," Jackson said. "It would be tough not to go for another championship in that threepeat realm, which is ridiculous. That's one of those things that's sitting out there that's still a fly in the ointment."

Jackson won three straight titles with Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls from 1991-93 and again from 1996-98.

After a year off, he immediately led the underachieving Lakers to three straight championships from 2000-02, meshing the egos and talents of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal to re-establish the Lakers as an NBA power.

Los Angeles also made the NBA finals in 2004, but lost to Detroit. Jackson then took a year off before returning to the Lakers' bench.

Los Angeles has reached the last three NBA finals, losing to Boston in 2008 before routing the Orlando Magic last year for their 15th title. The Lakers followed it up this season with a gritty seven-game victory over the Celtics.