Knicks, Jax Part Ways

The Zen Express has left The Garden as Phil Jackson and the Knicks
have parted ways.

By Bob Phillips

NEW YORK – Phil Jackson’s “Reign of Error” in New York has mercifully come to an end.

Jackson, who started is professional career with the Knicks in 1967—and likely ended in with the team—is out as president. That’s to good news for Knicks fans. The bad news is that Charles Dolan will be choosing Jackson’s successor.

Dolan, who purchased the Knicks after making a fortune inheriting the Cablevision empire from his daddy, might best be known—certainly to Knicks fans—as the man who hired Isaiah Thomas to run the team, then stood by him when Thomas was accused of sexual impropriety with a female employee. Indeed, in retrospect, Thomas was as equipped to run an NBA team as Donald J. Trump appears to be in running a country.

Now, some may say that loyalty is a good thing. And in many instances, it is. But in Dolan’s case, it is stupidity that seems to be his calling card.

But I digress… Back to the Jackson situation.

A few days before his ouster, Jackson voiced his desire to trade aging superstar Carmelo Anthony, and said he was willing to listen to any (and all) teams about a deal for Kristaps Porzingis, the 21-year-old, 7-3 Latvian who, by anyone’s standards, should be the cornerstone of the franchise’s future.

Anyone except for Jackson, that is. But that point is now moot. On Tuesday, Dolan opted to cut ties with Jackson who was responsible for coaching dynasty teams in both Chicago and Los Angeles. The NBA’s leading proponent of the triangle offense—a system that the New York Times, referred to as “an existential strategy” (which, of course, was favored by the man referred to throughout his coaching career as the “Zen Master”), the scheme, often called the “triple post offense,” is predicated on setting up a physical triangle at the strong-side post, wing and corner, and is designed to expose and take advantage of weaknesses in the opposition’s defense.

Jackson began his pro career with the Knicks in 1967.

Hugely successful with the Bulls and Lakers—11 world championships in all—the triangle is dependent on having two superstars in the mix. In Chicago, that pair was Michael Jordan in Scottie Pippen. In LA, it was Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. In New York, a reluctant Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis didn’t quite cut it. As a result, the Knicks went 80-166 in Jackson’s three-year tenure at the top of the Knicks’ totem pole, not once coming close to securing a postseason playoff spot.

And so on Monday, Dolan pulled the plug on yet another failed Knicks experiment, with two years and $24 remaining on Jackson’s contract.

“I had hoped, of course, to bring another NBA championship to the Garden,” said Jackson said in a statement upon his departure. [Editor’s Note: The Knicks’ last world championship came in 1973. Walt Frazier, Earl Monroe, Bill Bradley, Dave DeBusschere, and Willis Reed were the starters, with Dean Memminger, Henry Bibby, Hawthorne Wingo, Jerry Lucas, John Gianelli, and yes, Phil Jackson, coming off the bench. Richard Nixon was president. Vietnam was over, but Watergate was brewing. Gas cost 39 cents a gallon. A lifetime ago, in other words.]

“As someone who treasures winning, I am deeply disappointed that we weren’t able to do that,” continued the statement. “New York fans deserve nothing less. I wish them and the Knicks’ organization all the best—today and always.”

The triangle offense brought Jackson 11 rings in Chicago and LA where
he had two of the best players in NBA history—Michael Jordan (left) and
Kobe Bryant.

Surviving the purge (thus far, at least) is Knicks’ head coach Jeff Hornacek, who now will be free to throw off the shackles of the triangle—and develop and execute an offensive scheme more suitable for the talent he has to work with.

On Wednesday, Hornacek, issued a brief statement after the team’s summer-league practice in Orlando, Fla.

“It’s a tough day for us,” he said, “but really our focus is to get this team better.”

Hornacek’s future with the team will be reliant on whomever Dolan chooses to be his next president. Said to be on the short list: Masai Ujiri, the general manager of the Toronto Raptors; Michael Winger and Sam Presti, both currently executives with the Oklahoma City Thunder; Mike Zareen, the assistant GM with the Knicks’ archrival Boston Celtics; and Allan Houston. While Ujiri is thought to be the favorite, Houston would certainly be the most popular choice. A popular member of the Knicks in his playing days,  the former throw-'em-up shooting guard is currently the Knicks’ assistant GM and general manager of the Westchester Knicks, the parent team’s entry in the NBA Gatorade League (formerly known as the Developmental League).

One native New Yorker, it seems, has reached his limit.

“It's like a total train wreck,” tennis Hall of Famer and lifelong Knicks fan John McEnroe told The Associated Press last week. “I mean, he's known as the Zen Master, like a master talker, and then he's not talking to anybody,” McEnroe said of Jackson. “So this whole thing seems to have gone completely off the rails.”

Hey, here’s a novel idea: Given Dolan’s love of high-profile athletes, how about Johnny Mac for GM? (Wouldn’t you love to be a fly on the wall when those to Irish tempers clashed?)

Nah. Don’t count on that one. But be all means, stay tuned…

—With Staff Reports