11 rings & now a ton of losses
AW-PHIL NIGHTMARE ENDS!
James Dolan fired Phil Jackson as Knicks president Wednesday, and when you look back at the Zen Master’s time in New York, one thing becomes abundantly clear: He lost a lot more than he won — on and off the court. Here’s a list of things Phil lost during his three seasons at the Garden.
Jackson was forced to cancel his engagement with Lakers president and co-owner Jeanie Buss this past December because the long-distance relationship was becoming too much to handle. “With mutual love and respect, we have decided to end our engagement,” Jackson wrote in a Twitter statement. “With the nature of our professional obligations and the geographic distance between us, sustaining the relationship has been difficult. We have shared many wonderful moments through the years and we expect to remain supportive of each other in the future.” Buss quote-tweeted Phil’s post and wrote, “Nothing but love and respect for this man.” We’ll see if the dynamic duo gets back together now that Jackson no longer has responsibilities in New York.
Kerr was Jackson’s unquestioned top choice for head coach when he first took the job as Knicks team president in March of 2014. Obviously, Kerr opted instead to take the head-coaching job with the Warriors, and that has worked out well for the former Spur and Bull. The Knicks went on to hire Derek Fisher, and Jackson’s Knicks tenure unraveled from there.
Jackson left the NBA as the greatest coach in league history when he called it quits after the Lakers lost in the 2011 Western Conference Finals. He’s won 11 rings, if you haven’t heard. However, it’s now fair to wonder how his failures as an executive will impact his NBA legacy. He made some boneheaded trades. He caused a great deal of controversy. He managed to anger both of the Knicks’ best players with petty and egotistical actions. He signed one of the worst contracts in recent memory (Joakim Noah). Oh yeah, and he lost. A lot. He’ll always be remembered as one of the game’s great coaches. But now that resume has an asterisk: Great coach, horrible executive.
The Knicks went 80-166 during Jackson’s three seasons, including a franchise-record 65 losses in 2014-15.
Jackson repeatedly ticked off the NBA’s stars during his three seasons in New York. He upset LeBron James when he referred to the three-time NBA champion’s business associates as a “posse.” He upset Carmelo Anthony by taking multiple shots at him in interviews and on Twitter, most notably a CBS Sports interview in which he accused Anthony of stalling the offense. He called out James Harden in a tweet. All this bashing of the game’s elite players has certainly led to him losing some respect. James said as much when he responded to Phil’s “posse” comment. “I had nothing but respect for him as a coach for what he was able to do…but (now) I got nothing for him.” Porzingis announces plans to play for Latvian national team in summer’s European championships without informing Knicks.