He calls Bull on rips on Jax

Ron Harper knows a thing or two about winning NBA titles under Phil Jackson, after the former guard played on Jackson’s Chicago Bulls teams during the club’s second three-peat in the mid to late 1990s, and later on the Jackson-coached NBA champion Lakers during the 1999-00 and 2000-01 seasons.

So when it comes to front office decision making, Harper said he is in favor of Jackson’s moves as Knicks president, even including the Zen Master’s recent proclamation before Thursday’s NBA draft that he was listening to possible deals involving star player Kristaps Porzingis.

“He’s trying to turn (the Knicks roster) over. I agree with him,” Harper said Monday at Mariano Rivera’s charity golf event at Winged Foot Golf Club. “Porzingis, listen, if you get the right deal for him, you can get three or four players and a couple of draft picks. But you know you’re not going to receive that. It was just talk ‘cause (Jackson) was mad because (Porzingis) wouldn’t come to the exit meeting and all that.”

Harper said part of the conversation that gets left out of criticizing Jackson’s performance in the front office is that the 11-time NBA Finals champion coach inherited an unenviable task when Garden chairman James Dolan hired Jackson in 2014.

“(The Knicks) were $30 million over the salary cap before Phil came,” Harper said. “So how are you going to build a team?”