PORTLAND, Ore. – In Phil Jackson’s 1995 best-selling book, “Sacred Hoops,” he writes about coaching: “As my practice matured, I began to appreciate the importance of playing with an open heart. Love is the force that ignites the spirit and binds teams together.”

That communal sentiment flowed across in a sit-down interview with Jackson and select writers Thursday night as the real reason Jackson is coaching this season — contrary to some of his instincts. The reaching out from Lakers co-captains Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher via calls and texts was something Jackson felt compelled to honor for one more season — but this is definitively the end of the line now.

“I knew if I went back this time,” Jackson said, “this is it.”

Jackson, 65, said his plan had been to leave coaching by age 60, so he has been on borrowed time for a while. He said he meant it when he told Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak last July: “I don’t think I’m going to come back. You’d better plan on something besides this.”

Yet with the specter of a labor stoppage looming and so many in the Lakers’ community yearning for his help to secure another NBA championship before that, Jackson relented.

“I felt kind of like an obligation I should come back,” Jackson said.

So he is here one more time, staying in the moment he didn’t necessarily choose for himself, enjoying the 3 p.m. nap that he hears “you don’t get out in the real world” and appreciating the unique personalities of his players on one last journey: “Ron (Artest) seems to be having the most fun, and Lamar (Odom)’s real close behind.”

Jackson is aware enough to realize his underrated competitive drive will have nowhere to go without a court to take — he called it an “empty hole (that cannot) ever be replaced in a normal act of life” — but he is ready to tuck all his coaching and interpersonal mind games away and enjoy some simpler things in life.

Relaxing in white sneakers, blue jeans and a gray Polo sweater Thursday evening, Jackson savored his Chopin vodka with club soda and lime and acknowledged on the other hand he has heard plenty from his doctors and his children: “It’s a really unhealthy lifestyle. That’s a good reason to get out of the game.”

So instead of going without a meal from 3 p.m. to midnight, Jackson will meticulously prepare his own meals with his own garden vegetables while in Los Angeles and have little else to do but stay inside and eat while up in Montana fighting storms that bring 30 inches of snow over three days except fret about bears and moose attacks instead of those from Kevin Durant or Kevin Garnett.

Jackson envisions still spending perhaps 60 percent of his time in L.A., noting that four of his five children live in California … “and Jeanie.”

Jackson did not delve into the specifics of his future with Jeanie Buss, Lakers executive vice president and the boss’ daughter, though his recent selection of Jack Johnson’s “Better Together” as their personal theme song says plenty.

Jackson found love early on in L.A. with Jeanie — and then redemption a little later with Kobe. Bryant is the only player to have been with Jackson for all 11 of his seasons as Lakers coach, and obviously he has come a long way with connecting with a young player whose head was once so hard to crack.

Jackson told the story of arranging a first meaningful meeting between Bryant and Michael Jordan in the 2000-01 season, which was filled with Kobe-driven friction after the first championship the previous season. Jackson’s goal was for the learned Jordan to get the eager Bryant “to understand he didn’t have to stray outside the offense” and the Zen idea to “wait till the game presents itself.”

Jackson said Bryant’s first comment to Jordan, however, was: “I can take you one-on-one.”

Bryant came around and built his own legend, one of the prides of Jackson’s career.

And with the help of Jordan and Bryant, Jackson has won so many times that he actually said about his championships: “Almost every one of them is memorable.”

Jackson did cite the last dance in Chicago in 1998 as a standout among his 11 titles and hinted that one this season with the Lakers would feel a little like that with the finality.

Until he can write a happy ending — and yes, there is another book coming from him — Jackson knows what he has now … and will miss soon.

“The relationships that you have,” he said, “in the community that you build up.”

Contact the writer: kding@ocregister.com