DALLAS -- Ah, the good old days when Phil Jackson coached the Lakers and he and Mark Cuban could zing one screwball after another at each other and produce enough entertaining copy to last a week.

And then Phil had to up and retire after the postseason sweep by Cuban's boys. Now Jackson is probably hanging out in Montana, you know, doing that whole "meditate and ... smoke peyote or whatever he does there," thing that Mavs coach Rick Carlisle figured he'd do.

(See, Rick can zing the Zen Master, too).

Carlisle figured Phil would get bored with that lifestyle and eventually get back in the game. Cuban said he hopes he does.

"I miss having Phil," Cuban said before Wednesday's Mavs-Lakers matchup at American Airlines Center. "Phil was fun to mess with. He was smart and he would return volley. I'd volley, he'd return volley, it was like a tennis match. It was fun. I hope he gets back in the league.

"You don't often find the perfect bucket boy."

Ah, the old "bucket boy" comment. Cuban had to go back to 2006 for that one, which he wrote in his blog after Jackson claimed that NBA refs are intimidated by Cuban because he's always sending tapes to the league office to review.

Said Phil: "I know there's a lot of pressure on the refs when they come here because Mark has them review the tapes and send them into the league. And these guys are nervous Nellies when they come in to referee in this building. But they have to do a better job than they're doing. That's not acceptable."

Cuban responded on his blog: "I own Phil Jackson. Not literally of course. That thrill belongs to the smartest businesswoman in professional sports, Jeannie Buss. Figuratively however, the coach formerly known as the Zen Master must now be considered my bucket boy."

The exchanges continued with Phil leaving it this way: "It's just fun to have Mark in the league."

If only Phil would come back...