Phil Jackson Engaged

Phil Jackson may not have signed on for another run as coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, but he's about to join the Laker family nonetheless.

Jackson, who has won 11 NBA championships as a coach, retired after the 2010-11 season. It appeared that  he might return to coach the Lakers after Mike Brown was fired five games into the season, but the Lakers eventually chose Mike D'Antoni as Brown's replacement.

I wanted to get married. That’s who I am. Phil is of a generation that probably would have been happier never getting married. He just doesn’t want to get married again; it’s not that he doesn’t want to marry me. It took me awhile to understand that, and I’m fine with it now. We’ve been together over 10 years. This relationship has been my longest and most successful. So I’m very happy.

"I have a lot of role models," Buss told ESPNLosAngeles.com in 2011. "The first one is my best friend, Linda Rambis, because Kurt's in Minnesota and she's here. I learned that from 2004 when he retired. A relationship isn't just about space; it's about emotion and heart and all those good things."