Ex-Knicks: Phil missed his opportunity

Former Knicks guard Dick Barnett has something Phil Jackson doesn’t have — his Knicks jersey retired in the Garden rafters.

But in reflecting on the Zen Master’s failure as Knicks president, Barnett, who wore No. 12, wondered why Jackson never once consulted with him nor another backcourt legend, Walt Frazier, during his futile 3½-year stint as club president.

“No, that was one thing he never did do,’’ Barnett said Monday. “He had [team broadcaster] Walt Frazier right there with him and never did that with him, too.”

It was a 1970’s championship reunion of sorts Monday at the Museum of Natural History as Barnett, Willis Reed, Earl Monroe and Frazier gathered to help honor former teammate Bill Bradley at the Hospital of Special Surgery’s annual tribute gala.

The 76-year-old Reed, who revealed he had congestive heart failure in November, flew in from Louisiana for the tribute. Reed attended all three training camps during Jackson’s presidential stint.

On Monday, Reed reflected, “My disappointment is that when he came here he couldn’t have been the coach. He’s a coach. That’s what he is. No. 1, he’s a coach. Those guys would’ve played real hard for him.’’

Barnett attended several games this past season as the Knicks missed the playoffs for the fifth straight season.

“It’s tough to see the Knicks with the legacy we left continue to struggle through the years,’’ Barnett said. “It’s almost been half a century since the [last] championship [in 1973]. They came close in the 1990’s. A [new] coach is one thing. You need to have the talent to make it happen. You need the horses. A whole bunch of things they’re missing, obviously.”