By the end of his reign in New York, the Knicks president was nothing like the free thinker who opened an era of new-age coachingDespite the misguided perceptions of many sports fans, running an NBA team is actually a grinder’s pursuit. The men charged with picking players and managing rosters must spend the time scouting, scheming and building. Phil Jackson, who was let go Wednesday as New York Knicks president, seemed to believe his own cult of personality was enough to make the league’s most dysfunctional franchise whole again. The message Jackson lost as he took a rich man’s millions and wasted three years of the franchise is that his entire name was built on the managing the brilliance of others. His 11...
The former league MVP’s unexcused absence is a warning to the franchise that their win-now mentality could end up costing them dearlyBy now it’s obvious that the New York Knicks are not, at least primarily, a sports franchise at this point of their existence. They are really more of a long-running dark comedy occasionally interrupted by athletic displays that usually – but by no means always – resemble NBA games. Even by the Knicks’ standards, however, the events of the last few days have been unusual.On Monday night, the Knicks players had to prepare for a game without knowing the status of one of their team-mates. Starting point guard Derrick Rose did not show, and his team’s attempts to contact...
The Knicks president wasn’t being racist with his comments about LeBron James but they showed a man badly out of touch with the modern NBAThe Phil Jackson era of the New York Knicks continues to provide the basketball world with non-stop embarrassments. In an interview with ESPN, the Knicks president described LeBron James’s business associates as his “posse”. That resulted in strong rebukes from not just James but also Carmelo Anthony, the Knicks’ star player. It didn’t take long for James’s camp to respond to Jackson’s comments. James’s business manager Maverick Carter took to Twitter to respond to Jackson’s use of the loaded term “posse.” Related: LeBron James says he's lost respect for Phil Jackson over 'posse' comment Continue reading...