The head priest of the Jijuyu-ji Zen Group has put in a good word for Cleveland with basketball’s “Zen Coach” Phil Jackson, who is weighing various offers with teams around the country.

According to The New York Times, Dean Williams, resident priest at Jijuyu-ji, says Cleveland is ready for Jackson: “People are talking about it, the conditions exist and the karma is pointing in that direction.” Jackson has won nine NBA championships as a coach, six in Chicago and three in Los Angeles, and was on two championship teams in New York as a player. Jackson’s preference for cosmopolitan cities being thus well-established, most pundits leave Cleveland off the list of cities seriously contending to have his steady hand on the tiller.

But longtime basketball-enthusiast Williams sticks up for the resurgent city on the self-styled “North Coast,” and he may be right: With young stars such as LeBron James, a loyal fan base — and a healthy Zen Community — Cleveland might be the place from which Jackson once again springs to basketball nirvana.

For other Zen Centers in Ohio, check our Dharma Center Directory.

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