Jackson touched on a number of topics leading up to the game, won by Miami 104-102 in overtime.

NBA.com: After having coached both Shaq and Kobe for five years, what is the most intriguing aspect of them playing against each other for the first time this Saturday on Christmas Day?
Phil Jackson: "It has to be the defensive end. Neither one of them guard each other, but defensively, you could anticipate that Kobe is going to challenge the basket and Shaq is going to protect the paint. So that is going to be the most intriguing part. I think Shaq has stated that himself, if I'm not mistaken. He said he’s going to be the wall and Kobe's a Corvette or something like that. The other thing is that Shaq has a tendency to get very excited about things like this and very emotional, whereas Kobe may be emotional but may not show it. So that should be interesting to see. And the crowd play --- how the crowd is going to play into that I think is going to be very interesting."

The Last Season: A Team in Search of its Soul

Phil Jackson coached nine NBA championship teams in his tenure with the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers and missed out on his 10th last season with L.A. This book is a chronicle of Jackson's last year in Tinseltown. More about this book

NBA.com: How do you think the fans will respond?
Jackson: "I think they'll give Shaq a large hand at the beginning of the game, and then they'll cheer for Kobe and the home team the rest of the way on."

NBA.com: What is your impression of the Lakers at this stage in the season, now that Kobe is the undisputed leader of the team?
Jackson: "Well, they're going to struggle, because they're a 3-point shooting team. They’re going to struggle on the nights they don't shoot well. They're going to have a hard time and it's pretty much obvious that until Vlade Divac comes back, or unless they use Lamar Odom, they're going to be pretty much a penetrate and pitch team right now. That’s about it."

NBA.com: From a leadership perspective for Kobe, what kind of growing experience is this season for him on the court in this role?
Jackson: "Kobe's been a good leader by example, by determination and hustle, so that's been pretty much a given that he’s had that leadership role. Now he's got to play a role as a support person, a person that’s got to build confidence when people have a bad game or the team doesn't play well to reinstill that confidence in his teammates. That's a larger role, a much larger role for him but he's ready to step into that role. He's at an age now where his age and his maturity are playing up to his role."

NBA.com: Looking at Shaq and the Heat, do you think he can lead this team into the Finals, based on what you've seen thus far?
Jackson: "They need to get maybe Malik Allen back, or maybe a power player with him to help him rebound and defend, so he doesn't have to do all that dirty work down in the paint. If [Christian] Laettner stays healthy, he could help out in that role. That would make them a team that could get there. They have to have that rebounding and interior strength in there and other than that ---- the 3-point shooting. When the double-teams go to Shaq, they need to have a 3-point threat. They got penetration with the ball going into Shaq and [Dwyane] Wade being a really terrific penetrator himself, now they need to have that outside consistency. Eddie Jones hasn't shown me that much consistency this year."

Phil, Shaq and Kobe, seen here in 2000, won three-straight titles while together in Los Angeles. Andrew D. Bernstein NBAE/Getty Images

NBA.com: What are your thoughts on Kobe recently reaching out to Shaq to try to mend fences. He said he left him a voice mail just the other day.
Jackson: "I'm glad Kobe showed that. These guys were teammates that developed something very special over the five years that we played together and they were champions together. You never forget that, when you’re on a championship team together. You have that as part of your legacy and as part of memory that winning together was a very special time, so that was a nice step by Kobe."

NBA.com: If you were coaching right now, which books would you give Kobe and Shaq this Christmas?
Jackson: "Well, let's see...there's a book by a Rabbi named Harold S. Kushner called, When Bad Things Happen to Good People, that’s a good book for Kobe. To know that just because something bad happens to you doesn't mean you're a bad person, you know, that you’ve got that reassurance.

"I guess with Shaq, I'd go with Meetings with Remarkable Men by G. I. Gurdjieff --- it’s a book that I hold really valuable. That’s something I may think of, mostly because it has a great title, but it's also a terrific book. Shaq was a philosopher --- he's the guy that read all the plots of the Hermann Hesse books, the Nietzsche books that I gave him. He was a guy that read the heavier stuff."

NBA.com: Speaking of books, your latest book was both a critical and commercial success, but you took some heat from some people for offering such a candid account of last season. Were you surprised by the reaction?
Jackson: "No. I wasn't surprised at all. I've been used to critical comments from people in the sport, the colleagues, for a number of years now --- that happens whenever you have success. And as someone in basketball said, ‘If Pete Vecsey doesn’t criticize you, you must not be very successful.’ That's another part of living in the NBA.

"But there's a certain sense that we can live our lives with impunity here in the NBA. That what we do is just our men's life that we live and we can trample one another and we can have this kind of lifestyle that is very dog eat dog. The real aspect is that this is a very integrated work relationship that people have. In looking at it from a position of leadership and management, this book has some things to say. The names may be different 20 years down the line, but the effects and the dynamics of the workplace are going to be pretty much the same and that's what this book is all about and I think that’s where it’s going to ring true, it’s success."

Phil feels Kobe reaching out to Shaq was a 'nice step' by the Lakers guard. Victor Baldizon, Gary Dineen NBAE/Getty Images

NBA.com: Other than promoting your book, how else have you spent time this season being away from the game?
Jackson: "Mostly just working out, doing the little extra things that I haven't been able to do in the past ---- spending time in the grocery store, cooking my own meals and a variety of things like that that the NBA life doesn't afford you the opportunity sometimes when you are moving as fast as we move --- to do all of those home things. I've got two children here in L.A. and I’ve been able to spend a little more time with them and that’s nice. I'm going away for the rest of the Winter in January and hoping to have an opportunity to see some parts of the world I’ve never seen in their summer time. I'm going to go down to Australia for their tennis open and spend some time in New Zealand and those Pacific Islands."

NBA.com: How much do you miss coaching in the NBA, being away from the game for six months?
Jackson: "Right now, I can't say I miss it at all. I'm very happy not coaching. It’s a tough year. The NBA is not having a great year. Things are not the rosiest that I’ve ever seen. I’m glad not to have to be part of it. I think that there’s been so many negative kind of statements that have been made about the NBA, I feel badly about it. I haven't got the drive to come back and coach, it’s not there in me, but I’ll probably get back to it here soon. I mean, get back to that drive that I’ve had over the years and at that time, I'll have to make a decision whether I still have the desire and the energy to want to get back out there and coach."

NBA.com: Is there a scenario where, if coaching wasn't an option based on a lack of drive, that a front-office position would be a possibility instead?
Jackson: "I still think you have to have the real gut feeling of wanting to take on a challenge, you know. Just really desiring a challenge that is going to drive you passionately for whatever hours that it takes you --- 12 -- to find a way to overcome those problems. I think that’s what part of basketball is all about."

NBA.com: Is there a specific timetable that you have set for a possible return to the game?
Jackson: "I'm not putting any pressure on myself, but I will say that I'll have some idea how easy it is for me to not be part of the game by the end of this season."

NBA.com: At this stage of your life, isn't chasing the record 10th NBA title enough of a motivating factor to make you want to come back, say next Fall?
Jackson: "No, it's not."