Throughout the 1998-1999 season, Jackson, who had left the Bulls, did not look for a new job but instead lay low, seeking the best opportunity.
Emotionally, he divorced his wife after his affair was exposed, returning to a bachelor's life.
While living a reclusive and spiritual life in a small village by Iliamna Lake in Alaska, he awaited work opportunities to emerge.
Phil Jackson learned about being hired by the Lakers from local children, who saw the news on ESPN, and followed him out of Alaska's barren land to the sunny Los Angeles.
Of course, this was Phil Jackson's own recounting; he implied that he cast himself into the wilderness for meditation, like Jiang Ziya fishing with a straight hook, indifferent to worldly affairs, quietly awaiting willing fish to bite.
