EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. ? Phil Jackson decided it was time for a change, so he quit as coach of the Albany Patroons in hopes of going to graduate school.

He had coached the Continental Basketball Association team for five years and enough was enough there had to be something better.

Los Angeles coach Phil Jackson shouts instructions from the bench. A Lakers victory tonight at New Jersey would give Jackson nine NBA titles, tying former Boston coach red Auerbach.

That was 15 years ago.

Now, Red Auerbach’s feelings aside, Jackson is arguably the most accomplished coach in NBA history.

“I think his record speaks for itself,” Kobe Bryant said Monday. “Having an opportunity to three-peat with three different teams, I mean, that’s unbelievable.”

Holding a 3-0 lead over New Jersey in the NBA Finals, Jackson’s Los Angeles Lakers are a virtual lock to win their third straight championship and become the fifth team in league history to win three or more consecutive titles.

Jackson coached two of the previous four in Chicago from 1991-93 and 1994-96.

The others were the Minneapolis Lakers (1952-54) and Auerbach’s Boston Celtics (1959-66).

Should the Lakers win, Jackson would move past Pat Riley with 156 playoff wins and tie Auerbach with nine titles.

Riley’s playoff record is 155-100. Jackson’s is 155-54.

Auerbach, 84, recently put Jackson down, saying his teams were “ready-made” and he hadn’t shown an ability to teach and develop players.

	When: 8 tonight.Where: Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J.Television: Channels 27 and 41 (Cable channels 8 and 14).Series: Lakers lead 3-0.

Jackson responded by saying that Auerbach’s lighting a cigar in his coaching days when a victory was clinched irritated a lot of people, and “he’s still capable of doing that.”

Jackson backed off a bit Monday, saying he had heard through a mutual friend that Auerbach felt misquoted.

When asked if he expected to hear from Auerbach at some point, Jackson replied: “I expect a cigar, not lit, hopefully.”

Jackson said he was applying to graduate schools in 1987 when the Bulls called, offering him an assistant coaching job under Doug Collins.

Two years later, Jackson became the team’s head coach, and his string of titles began in his second season on the job.

Jackson has often expressed gratitude that he had players like Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen in Chicago, and has Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal in Los Angeles. But none won titles until Jackson took over.

“It’s at the point now that as much as he’s done for us, it motivates us to speak out against what’s being said,” forward Rick Fox said. “I never won a championship before I met Phil Jackson, we’re all better players because of him and I think his record speaks for itself.”

Fox said the Lakers can thank Jackson next year by making it four in a row. That would put Jackson alone at the top with 10 championships.

“Maybe that could silence some of this,” Fox said. “But it’s just jealousy, we recognize what it is and where it comes from.”

Jackson left the Bulls after the 1998 season and took a year off before signing a five-year, $30 million contract to coach the Lakers, who had just been swept by San Antonio in the Western Conference semifinals.

The Lakers have been champions ever since, starting in 2000 when they won their first title in 12 years.

“From different personalities like Dennis Rodman, Jordan and Pippen to Shaq and Kobe, he has brought the best out of all of them,” guard Brian Shaw said. “You don’t win that many championships by accident. And I know everybody that has played on our team the last three years has had their perspective broadened.”

Jackson was criticized for letting O’Neal and Bryant work out their well-publicized differences midway through the 2000-2001 season, but now the two All-Stars play well together and praise each other.

On Monday, O’Neal repeated what he has often said that Bryant’s the best player in the NBA. And several times during the Finals, Bryant has called O’Neal the most dominant player ever.

Jackson, who has two years remaining on his contract, said he might coach beyond that.

O’Neal has said he won’t play for another coach.