Apparently, word has it that former Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson was “stunned” to discover he was not re-hired by the team, which had fired head coach Mike Brown last week.

The audacity that Jackson has to be surprised he didn’t get the job doesn’t surprise me. Jackson could never accept a job he couldn’t win immediately.

That’s always been a sticking point with me about Jackson, who helped guide the Chicago Bulls to six NBA Championships — led by some no-name guy named Michael Jordan — and later accepted the Los Angeles Lakers job when Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal signed on.

The idea of building a team from the ground up never appealed to Jackson. Why spend all those years laying down a foundation and going from “rags to riches” the slow, drawn-out way?

Jackson’s name is listed as one of the great coaches of all time because of his record (1,155-485), winning percentage (.704) and championships (11), but he has never been one to start from scratch.

Jackson won three consecutive titles (“three-peat”) with the Bulls from 1990-91 to 1992-93 and from 1995-96 to 1997-98, then said he was going to stop coaching for good.

A year later, the highly talented but underachieving Lakers called and Jackson jumped.

His first three seasons in L.A. led to three championships, despite some bickering from Bryant and O’Neal.

Jackson’s job, it seemed, was to have the two stars peacefully coexist, which to his credit, he was able to do.

Jackson, minus O’Neal, went on to lead the Lakers to two more titles (2008-09 and 2009-10) before stepping down after the 2010-11 season.

No one thought anymore of that, although his name would always circulate when teams where looking for a new coach.

Jackson left the Lakers after the 2003-04 season, but when replacement coach Rudy Tomjanovich left the team midway through the season for health reasons, the thought was Jackson would return, which he did the following year.

Over the past several years as coach of the Lakers, Jackson’s name would be linked to other jobs, but he knew he had something special in L.A.

So, when the job opening came after Brown got the ax after a 1-4 start — despite the team’s conservative approach in the preseason to injured stars Bryant, Dwight Howard and Steve Nash — fans started to chant Jackson’s name at one of their recent games.

The Lakers talked to Jackson on Saturday with the intention of negotiating more on Monday.

Apparently, despite what the team and Jackson are saying, he reportedly was requesting the world to come back — perhaps missing some road games, a piece of ownership, final say on personnel decisions?

The Lakers decided they weren’t going down that road and instead hired former Phoenix Suns and New York Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni.

While liking Jackson, Bryant said he “can’t wait” to play for D’Antoni, who had success with the Suns and Nash, then brought the Knicks back to respectability.

Whether D’Antoni will have success remains to be seen, but any thought of another championship run for Jackson will have to be somewhere else — and that becomes less likely with each year that passes by.