Phil Jackson’s lucrative five year deal ends after three seasons by mutual consent, or so we are told.
Jackson does have a few years on me but I think I get his attitude. It comes down to less tolerance for the day-to-day BS that most corporate jobs require. At his level of success, he wanted underlings to do the heavy lifting while he guarded the grand vision. He initially wanted to be a consultant, someone who directs events but doesn’t get his hands dirty with pesky details. Dolan wanted more active participation. Phil was ill suited for the nuts and bolts routine of running a franchise. He was a dreamer, the designer of the great revolutionary concept, not the functionary charged with making it work on an everyday basis.
He felt his industry stature gave him the opportunity to speak the plain truth when he felt like it and not couch it in PC language for fear he might offend the delicate sensibilities of the modern athlete.
Did he lie about Melo being better off elsewhere? No. He won’t win a championship in NY, but with the Cavs? Maybe. Was it sacrilege to allow in public that if a trade for his young star came along that could improve the team, he’d listen?
I was a little surprised that he didn’t invest time in cultivating a few media types. It would have done wonders for his image, but it seems he had contempt for those who covered him and couldn’t grasp the genius and intricacies of his triangle plan. Hubris, to be sure, when a bit a tolerance would have served him better.
Where do the Knicks go from here? Whoever takes over, it will be a long slow journey to respectability. Will the owner be patient enough to allow the new man to execute his plan, given the inevitable stumbles that will occur? It would be nice for basketball to be important in the city again. It hasn’t been, except for the gossip aspect, for many years. 7/1/17
