Phil Jackson No Longer Has to Drink New Orleans’ Water

A mini-controversy erupted in the Big Easy when Phil said he didn’t like drinking the local water, which the media naturally jumped all over, but Jackson no longer has to worry about that since the Hornets got eliminated last night. The Lakers coach couldn’t help himself, and threw in some parting digs: “Jackson took exception to the headline on the front page of Thursday’s [Times-Picayune], which read, ‘Why Does He Hate Us?’ The story essentially pulled every disparaging quote Jackson has ever uttered about the city, including his refusal to comment on his feelings about New Orleans before Game 3. ‘I refuse to comment on the grounds that I might incriminate myself,’ Jackson said Friday. ‘Just don’t drink the water.’ … ‘If I was a politician, I’d feel really bad. That’s the kind of thing that gets us in problems. I was vilified.’ Jackson added, ‘I I love coming here,’ and said he would like to come back for the New Orleans Jazz Fest. In true Jackson form, however, he couldn’t let well enough alone and gave the city one last shot before walking away. ‘They said I didn’t like the water,’ Jackson said. ‘It is the bottom of the country, is it not? All the sludge comes out of the plain states and the irrigation and insecticides.'”