NUMEROUS FACTORS KNOCK OUT JACKSON
So why is Phil Jackson out in New York?
Let us count the reasons.
Jackson was fighting battles on several fronts. His popularity was dwindling internally, and forces from the outside were coming his way as well.
The Carmelo Anthony camp was dug in, the Knicks star and his wife having made it clear that they didn’t want to be shoved out of town by Jackson. Anthony’s associates did all they could to help him in the faceoff with the front office.
The Kristaps Porzingis contingent wasn’t any different. The frustration had been rising from the time he skipped his exit interview in April to the recent round of trade rumors that were seen as surreal by so many.
One minute, Porzingis, 21, was their “unicorn,” the big man who could do it all and gave hope to the embattled fan base. The next, he was just another goat after Jackson publicly admonished Porzingis for skipping the exit interview and acknowledging he was listening to trade offers.
There also were the familiar Knicks faces who will always have a voice, such as Isiah Thomas. In the wake of Jackson’s departure, the rumblings grew quickly that the former Knicks executive, who has always been close with owner James Dolan, could have a chance of returning. That move would be a predictable about-face for Dolan, whose five-year, $60 million hiring of Jackson in March 2014 was widely seen as a change from his dysfunctional ways.
Little did everyone know that the chaos would continue.
The Knicks never won more than 32 games in a season during Jackson’s tenure, and his inane insistence on being outspoken against stars such as LeBron James and Anthony did immense damage to the way the franchise was viewed by the player commu- nity. And now, of course, no one-would be surprised if Dolan went back to what he knew and hired Thomas as a way to right his wrong.
Dolan’s interest in Toronto Raptors executive Masai Ujiri is real, not to mention the preferred choice of the folks in the league offices who would like the Knicks machine to run smoothly one day.
There’s a built-in connection: Tim Leiweke, the former CEO of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment group who hired Ujiri as Raptors general manager in 2013, is serving as a Knicks consultant. Leiweke is the CEO of the sports and entertainment consulting firm the Oak View Group, as well as a partner of Irving Azoff, the longtime friend of Dolan who played a significant role in bringing Jackson to the Knicks.
But the Toronto timing has problems. Ujiri, now team president, signed a five-year extension worth $32 million last September and the Raptors are down a man in the front office after former general manager Jeff Weltman left for the Orlando Magic in late May. The Magic had to send a second-round pick to Toronto to pry Weltman away, meaning the price tag for Ujiri would be significantly higher.
Not long after the Knicks announced Wednesday that they were parting ways with Jackson, Toronto announced that assistant GM Bobby Webster would be promoted to GM, and a reminder was given that the Raptors’ priorities are their own.
If only Dolan had made this move a year ago.