By Anthony Strait, OTSL Analyst
Flash back to March 18, 2014; Phil Jackson received a
thunderous standing ovation as earlier in the day he came home. The man with
eleven NBA championships as a coach had officially returned to the franchise
where he won two as a player. Phil was a member of those beloved New York
Knicks teams that won championships in 1970 and 1973 when the Knicks were the
ultimate definition of that word: TEAM. On this day Jackson was now christened as
the latest supposed savior to a team that had struggled to maintain any success
since 2000. Knicks owner James Dolan had fired GM Glen Grunwald before the
2013-14 season started, mere months after the team Grunwald put together won 54
games, a division title and then their first playoff series win in over a
decade. Now Dolan was again bringing in a big name to save a franchise that has
made self-sabotaging more common in Midtown than rush hour traffic. Only this
time it was the man who once helped the Knicks win titles as a player and also
prevented them from winning more while coaching a man named Michael Jordan.
Now
flash forward to the present. Days
before the trading deadline in the middle of yet another lost season for the
Knicks. The love and optimism that was felt at Madison Square Garden back on
that March night has disappeared. The aura now felt is one of confusion, chaos
and turmoil. A star player in the midst of constant trade talks and a owner now
embroiled in a ugly PR nightmare with a beloved former player. Lost in all this
is the job Jackson has done since March 18, 2014. Three years in and the numbers speak for themselves: 72 wins
to 149 losses along with three different head coaches and 45 different players.
The man known as “The Zen Master” has created more madness by his actions as
well as his ill-timed words. The Knicks need to save face and admit to
themselves that yet another big name is just that: a big name. Phil is no
savior and now they need to move on in an act of salvation if winning
basketball is to return to Madison Square Garden.
From
the moment the 2013-2014 Knicks season ended and Phil went over his options he
made one questionable decision and only compounded it with more questionable
decisions. Jackson fired Mike Woodson instead of allowing him to coach the last
year of his contract as Jackson himself made the transition from coach to front
office. One would think an individual in Phil’s shoes would keep things intact
just to make transitioning easier. When he missed out on Steve Kerr he settled
on the just retired Derek Fisher. Jackson’s biggest mistake was not hiring an inexperienced
coach to lead a veteran team but rather insisting that the coach run the
Triangle offense that Jackson and Tex Winter made legendary. Flawed logic
considering today’s NBA which now incorporates small lineups and three-point
shooting more than ever. The
Knicks struggled learning the Triangle and eventually Phil decided to press the
reset button and blow up the roster. Gone were JR Smith and Iman Shumpert – who
would later help the Cavaliers win a championship. The Knicks finished with the
worst record in franchise history – 17-65 – in Jackson’s first full season as
team president.
He got lucky when Kristaps Portzingis fell into his lap in
the 2015 draft but it’s really the only positive on a resume full of negatives.
The Knicks improved by 13 games in 2016, but a solid start was derailed by a
lengthy losing streak and injuries ruined any hopes of a playoff spot. Phil
fired Fisher after a 23-31 start and again pressed the reset button after the
season. The building blocks he installed gave way to veterans like Joakim Noah
and Derrick Rose in a shift from rebuilding to Win Now mode. It seemed to work
at first in December. The Knicks were 14-10 and sitting third in the East when
Jackson managed to put his foot in his mouth with controversial remarks involving
LeBron James. Jackson referring to James’ business associates as his “posse”
was both dumb and insensitive. In typical Jackson fashion, he offered no
apology. The comments bashing Carmelo Anthony for not passing in spite of
numbers showing differently only began what would now be weeks of a public tug
of war against his own star player.
Nowadays Phil Jackson is symbolic for everything that has
plagued the Knicks for so many years: lack of continuity, lack of patience,
lack of an actual plan and poorly timed bad PR. He passed on interviewing guys
like Tom Thibodeau and Frank Vogel while rumors swirled he would give the head
coaching job to interim coach Kurt Rambis full time with the Triangle again in
mind. He settled on Jeff Hornacek but it still feels like Phil is trying to
coach from afar. In his mind the lack of Triangle offense is why the Knicks are
struggling; not the realization that his team is among the worst defensive
teams in the league. He wants to rebuild around Porzingis but now have Noah’s
$72 million contract eating up payroll for the next few years. The guys he
traded like Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton are still producing for other
teams. Meanwhile many of the guys he got back in return are no longer with the
team. His failure to build a contending team has now resulted in him throwing
Melo – a man he convinced to stay and trust the process – under the bus. Three
years later and constant changes from a man brought in to bring stability has
resulted in a record more than 80 games under .500. Phil “The Savior” is now
Phil “The False Prophet”.
In a season that has derailed both on and off the court, whether
it’s the trade rumors swirling around the best player or the owner’s poor
treatment of team alum, Phil Jackson is in the middle of it all. The Knicks
have failed yet again to learn from their past by delving into their past for a
big name. Phil with his rings and resume was supposed to bring instant
credibility. Last summer those rings were not even good enough for Kevin Durant
to sit and have coffee with Phil so you can only imagine how little those rings
look now as the team’s bad reputation sweeps through the league. Jackson’s epic
failure as President leaves the Knicks more in shambles than before he came
home. New York was 127-103 with three playoff appearances and a division title.
The team with Phil managed a 17-win season and a game of musical chairs to see
all the different players who have worn a Knicks uniform. It’s time both part
ways for no other reason than salvation. For Phil it’s his legacy and for the
Knicks it’s to bring in someone who can do the job and revive the franchise without
the fanfare.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way but when you think back to
that night in 2014 Knicks fans in the building at the corner of 33rd and 7th and
all around NYC wanted to believe. Unfortunately the man hired to save the
Knicks instead has turned into an out of touch Old Man. Knicks fans deserve better;
Carmelo Anthony deserves better; even James Dolan who kept his word about staying
out of Jackson’s way deserves better. The franchise does need to rebuild, but
the simplest solution is really to move on from the Era of Zen. Where one
becomes a false prophet not because they fail but rather because they don’t
realize that they have failed.
Phil will never admit it to himself so it’s up to the Knicks
to do it for him.
