Knicks plan announcement as Jackson talk swirls
NEW YORK— The New York Knicks announced Friday they will make a " major announcement" on Tuesday as reports swirled they will put former Chicago Bulls and LA Lakers coach Phil Jackson in charge of the struggling NBA team.
ESPN reported that Jackson, who has coached a record 11 NBA championship teams, was expected to complete an agreement Friday that would put him in charge of all basketball decisions for the Knicks.
Jackson, 68, retired as a coach in May of 2011 after having guided the Bulls to six NBA titles in the 1990s and the Los Angeles Lakers to five NBA crowns from 20002010.
He is engaged to Jeanie Buss, the sister of Lakers owner Jim Buss, and would likely spend plenty of time in California as well as New York.
Despite boasting the NBA's number two scorer in Carmelo Anthony with 28.1 points a game, the Knicks are 26- 40, 3.5 games behind the Atlanta Hawks for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, with 16 games remaining in the regular season.
Jackson would replace Steve Mills, who was named president and general manager of the Knicks last September, and improve the chances that New York might keep Anthony, who is looking at free agency after this season.
Jackson played for the Knicks from 19671978 and helped the team win its most recent NBA crown in 1973.