KNICKS GET THEIR PHIL OF JACKSON
After chairman Dolan steps in, team, Zen Master part ways
When the trade deadline came and went in February, with Phil Jackson and the Knicks unable or unwilling to pull the trigger on a deal, it left them in an awkward spot. Still stuck with Carmelo Anthony, who was caught up in a bizarre struggle with Jackson, and getting no return for Derrick Rose, due to become a free agent, the Knicks ran out the string on another miserable season.
And shortly after the deadline, Jackson’s appointed chronicler, his former assistant coach during his Continental Basketball Association days, Charley Rosen, wrote a story and noted, “Starting on July 1, Phil Jackson will have his phone stuck to his ear and lots of under- the- cap money to spend.”
Speaking to an executive from an Eastern Conference team shortly after, the line was recounted to him, and he laughed.
“You have to kill yourself just to get his phone number,” the executive said. “You have to get a favor from someone to get Phil’s cellphone. I have it. But it was hard to get.
“It’s unusual, very unusual. Obviously, Phil is the decision- maker, and as decision- makers, we want to talk to him. Nothing against the guys below him, but when you want to discuss a deal, you want to talk to him. And he just doesn’t. There are management guys around the league laughing.”
The laughter came to an end Wednesday as the Knicks and Jackson officially parted ways.
Garden chairman James Dolan finally stepped into the quagmire Jackson had created and met with Jackson, who had two years and $ 24 million left on a deal, thanks to an option the two sides picked up in April, and pushed him out. The feuds with Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis finally became too much.
After three seasons as team president, after all of the talk on that first day he was introduced of a different kind of culture and an open dialogue with the fans and media, Jackson remained a mystery. He’s not the Zen Master anymore, but more of a recluse — silent to the media for nearly a year at a time, emerging with odd comments and critiques that have isolated him not only from his counterparts on other teams, but from the stars of his own team.
The 71- year- old was at an impasse with Anthony. In Jackson’s first major move as team president, after boasting that the Knicks would move on with or without Anthony, he blinked and not only brought Anthony back with a five- year, $ 124.9 million deal, but provided a rare notrade clause and a 15 percent trade kicker in the agreement.
But as Jackson’s teams failed spectacularly, piling up an 80- 166 record in his three seasons, he has publicly tried to push Anthony to waive the no- trade clause. Anthony has dug in, unwilling to help Jackson after feeling insulted.
ESPN reported that Anthony’s representatives had broached the possibility of a buyout with the Knicks that would allow him to then sign with another team — likely the Cavaliers with his longtime friend LeBron James. But the Knicks are not anxious to pull the trigger on that move, which would bring no return for Anthony, who still was the Knicks’ leading scorer last season.
And then there is the young franchise cornerstone, the one positive of Jackson’s tenure — Porzingis. After two years in which the 21- year- old Latvian has been subjected to three head coaches, a nearly completely revamped roster and shifting systems, with the only consistency being the dysfunction that has plagued the organization, he made the decision — probably the wrong one — to skip his exit interview with Jackson.
If that was a mistake, it was met with organizational malpractice. Rather than take the high road with their young star — and a player no one thinks isn’t trying to do things the right way — Jackson criticized him at his own end- of- season news conference, noted that he would consider trading anyone, Porzingis included, and to this day has not spoken with Porzingis in more than two months.
“I think we know what we’re doing,” Jackson said on MSG Network last week when asked what message he had for the fans. “Although it’s not been apparent in our record the last couple of years. We’ve grown from within. We have young players that are on their move up. It takes time to rebuild with youth. I think they have confidence in the fact that we’re going to have good players, we’re going to have a good team and we’re going to be on the court competitive.”