Phil Jackson Targeting Championship, Not 72 Wins

It's a mark that many folks would enjoy seeing the Lakers reach, but it's not one that Phil Jackson finds very important.

The mark is 72 wins, a record set by the 1995-96 Bulls for most in a season. The coach, however, has bigger, more tangible goals in mind.

"I don't want the players to get that as a goal," he told the LA Daily News. "That's not a goal. The goal is to go through the season in an orderly fashion and build momentum through the end of the year. I think it just takes so much out of you to push that all the time, to just keep pushing it.

"A lot of things could happen."

Jackson should know. He was at the helm of that Bulls team, led by Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and then-newcomer Dennis Rodman.

Jackson, though, said that there are many factors other than the players that contribute to an extraordinarily successful campaign.

"I kind of laugh because we're in the Western Conference and just the travel alone, there's attrition in the travel," Jackson said. "When you're in the Eastern Conference and everything is within a time zone and an hour-and-a-half is a long flight, you have the best of all worlds."

This season, the best of all worlds will simply mean holding the Larry O'Brien Trophy once again.