Phil Jackson says the prospect of an NBA lockout influenced his decision to retire from coaching after this season rather than after last season.

Jackson told FOXSports.com that he wanted to leave the Los Angeles Lakers after the 2010 playoffs but agreed to stay another year when Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss spelled out the labor situation.

"I went out to lunch during the Phoenix series (Western Conference finals) last year and (Buss) told me, 'With the impending labor disagreement coming up, there are some things that we have to do as owners that make sense,'" Jackson recounted. "And I said, 'Well, I'm really thinking about retiring now but if there is going to be a lockout that would change the complexity. I would consider coming back and coaching another year to carry the team forward to that particular point.'

"Everyone has been talking about the labor disagreement lasting a whole year and I didn't want the organization to have to pay a salary for a coach doing nothing. The Lakers have been really good to me salary-wise but if I signed a two-year contract, then they'd have to pay me."