lol..
Phil was never a basketball genius. He was a teamwork catalyst. Manged some of the biggest egos in all of sports and helped keep them in check, which translated them to wins. Probably anyone could have "coached" at least 1 win from each of those teams he had, but keeping the team playing well together for multiple 3-peats.... He should receive credit for that.
<header class="article-header">[h=1]Phil Jackson's biggest failure was letting the game pass him by[/h]</header><figure data-video="native,640,360,19757745" data-cerebro-id="5953bc8ce4b0a3a8bdbd96ab" class="iframe-video article-figure video active" data-source="espn"><source media="(min-width: 376px)"><source media="(max-width: 375px)"><img class="null imageLoaded lazyloaded" data-image-container=".article-figure">play
</figure><figure data-video="native,640,360,19757745" data-cerebro-id="5953bc8ce4b0a3a8bdbd96ab" class="iframe-video article-figure video active" data-source="espn"></figure>1:44 PM CT
Phil Jackson once wrote that Kobe Bryant was uncoachable, and Wednesday morning that bygone critique was worth a good laugh or three.
Before the New York Knicks mercifully parted ways with him as president of basketball operations, Jackson had proved to be among the most uncoachable executives in league history.
<aside class="inline editorial float-r" data-behavior="article_related">[h=1]Editor's Picks[/h]
Jackson won a record 11 combined rings with the Bulls and Lakers, but he's been at the bottom of all league metrics measuring humility for a very long time.
Knicks owner James Dolan gave Jackson $60 million over five years in March 2014 to save the franchise and to end the public pounding he was taking from columnists and fans. The Knicks had won a grand total of one playoff series since 2000, and even though Jackson wasn't going to coach, this was one move the ever-bumbling Dolan couldn't be ripped for.
Phil was still Phil. He was still a link to the early '70s glory days of his mentor, Red Holzman. He was still a good bet to make the Knicks competitive and relevant before retiring to his favorite California beach.
When the losses kept piling up under Jackson on his way to a 90-171 record in New York, Dolan offered these same two words to those inquiring about the continued downward spiral: "Ask Phil." Only Phil was rarely available to answer any questions about his bizarre mismanagement of the roster. He'd pledged upon introduction to make the Knicks a more transparent operation, and that was one of many promises he wouldn't keep.
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<aside class="inline inline-photo full"><figure><source data-srcset="http://a3.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2014%2F1201%2Fny_g_jackson01jr_B_1296x729.jpg&w=570, http://a3.espncdn.com/combiner/i?im...jackson01jr_B_1296x729.jpg&w=1140&cquality=40 2x" media="(min-width: 376px)"><source data-srcset="http://a3.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2014%2F1201%2Fny_g_jackson01jr_B_1296x729.jpg&w=375, http://a3.espncdn.com/combiner/i?im..._jackson01jr_B_1296x729.jpg&w=750&cquality=40 2x" media="(max-width: 375px)"><img class="lazyloaded imageLoaded" data-image-container=".inline-photo"><figcaption class="photoCaption">Phil Jackson's three-year tenure as Knicks president was filled with botched signings and questionable coaching hires. <cite>Jim McIsaac/Getty Images</cite></figcaption></figure></aside>Jackson's detached arrogance never served him well, nor did his insistence on sacrificing simple win-loss mathematics at the altar of his cherished triangle algorithms. There's nothing wrong with the triangle offense, mind you; Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen and Shaquille O'Neal and Bryant did just fine with it. But there's something terribly wrong with forcing a system on guards and big men incapable of executing it, and with forcing a system on coaches who didn't love it any more than their players did.
Early on it became clear Jackson took this massive rebuilding job for all the wrong reasons. "If Dolan offered him $2 million a year or even $5 million, he wouldn't have taken it," Krause told ESPN.com in 2015. "But $12 million is overwhelming. Phil didn't take the job because he thought he had a playoff club. He took the job for the money."
He took the money and ran himself out of town. Jackson didn't just publicly humiliate one Knicks star at the end of his prime (Carmelo Anthony), and another at the beginning of his prime (Kristaps Porzingis); he also guaranteed that LeBron James would never consider playing full-time in his favorite gym, Madison Square Garden, with an unnecessary and lazy-minded remark about James' business associates.
Jackson was supposed to recruit free agents, and instead he chased them away. One longtime league official said the other day that while he agreed with Jackson's desire to trade Anthony to start a true makeover, he couldn't understand why the Knicks president went out of his way to trash the forward at every turn.
They don't have to worry about that anymore. Dolan dismissed his own promise to keep Jackson for the full five years, and gave Phil the exit interview Porzingis didn't attend.
<article class="ad-300"></article>Truth is, Jackson began firing himself the day he didn't close the deal on Steve Kerr as his head coach. Derek Fisher was a disaster, and Jeff Hornacek was the very definition of an uninspiring hire. Jackson gave Anthony his no-trade clause, made the deals for Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah, and then tried and failed to pivot back to a youth movement.
"I think we know what we're doing," Jackson said on MSG-TV last week. ESPN's Jay Williams reported that Jackson fell in and out of sleep while watching (or trying to watch) a draft prospect work out, and finally Dolan woke up.
"After careful thought and consideration," the owner said in a statement, "we mutually agreed that the Knicks will be going in a different direction."
Dolan then went on about Jackson's unmatched legacy as a coach. It should be noted that Phil built that legacy, in part, by doing exactly what he did for the past three seasons.
He killed the Knicks.
</figure><figure data-video="native,640,360,19757745" data-cerebro-id="5953bc8ce4b0a3a8bdbd96ab" class="iframe-video article-figure video active" data-source="espn"></figure>1:44 PM CT
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Ian O'ConnorESPN Senior Writer
Phil Jackson once wrote that Kobe Bryant was uncoachable, and Wednesday morning that bygone critique was worth a good laugh or three.
Before the New York Knicks mercifully parted ways with him as president of basketball operations, Jackson had proved to be among the most uncoachable executives in league history.
<aside class="inline editorial float-r" data-behavior="article_related">[h=1]Editor's Picks[/h]
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[h=2]Knicks, Phil mutually part ways after 3 years[/h]The Knicks and president Phil Jackson announced Wednesday morning that they have mutually parted ways. Conversations of Jackson's departure accelerated this week when the organization decided it would not buy out Carmelo Anthony.
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[h=2]What's the future for the Knicks with Phil Jackson out?[/h]What should the Knicks do about Carmelo Anthony and the future of the franchise? Our crew debates and predicts their next moves.
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[h=2]Add Phil Jackson to the list of dead-money deals for the Dolan-era Knicks[/h]James Dolan will likely have to eat more than $20 million now that Phil Jackson is out as team president. But this isn't the first time the Knicks owner tossed a ton of money at someone on their way out the door.
Jackson won a record 11 combined rings with the Bulls and Lakers, but he's been at the bottom of all league metrics measuring humility for a very long time.
Knicks owner James Dolan gave Jackson $60 million over five years in March 2014 to save the franchise and to end the public pounding he was taking from columnists and fans. The Knicks had won a grand total of one playoff series since 2000, and even though Jackson wasn't going to coach, this was one move the ever-bumbling Dolan couldn't be ripped for.
Phil was still Phil. He was still a link to the early '70s glory days of his mentor, Red Holzman. He was still a good bet to make the Knicks competitive and relevant before retiring to his favorite California beach.
When the losses kept piling up under Jackson on his way to a 90-171 record in New York, Dolan offered these same two words to those inquiring about the continued downward spiral: "Ask Phil." Only Phil was rarely available to answer any questions about his bizarre mismanagement of the roster. He'd pledged upon introduction to make the Knicks a more transparent operation, and that was one of many promises he wouldn't keep.
ADVERTISEMENT
<aside class="inline inline-photo full"><figure><source data-srcset="http://a3.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2014%2F1201%2Fny_g_jackson01jr_B_1296x729.jpg&w=570, http://a3.espncdn.com/combiner/i?im...jackson01jr_B_1296x729.jpg&w=1140&cquality=40 2x" media="(min-width: 376px)"><source data-srcset="http://a3.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2014%2F1201%2Fny_g_jackson01jr_B_1296x729.jpg&w=375, http://a3.espncdn.com/combiner/i?im..._jackson01jr_B_1296x729.jpg&w=750&cquality=40 2x" media="(max-width: 375px)"><img class="lazyloaded imageLoaded" data-image-container=".inline-photo"><figcaption class="photoCaption">Phil Jackson's three-year tenure as Knicks president was filled with botched signings and questionable coaching hires. <cite>Jim McIsaac/Getty Images</cite></figcaption></figure></aside>Jackson's detached arrogance never served him well, nor did his insistence on sacrificing simple win-loss mathematics at the altar of his cherished triangle algorithms. There's nothing wrong with the triangle offense, mind you; Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen and Shaquille O'Neal and Bryant did just fine with it. But there's something terribly wrong with forcing a system on guards and big men incapable of executing it, and with forcing a system on coaches who didn't love it any more than their players did.
Early on it became clear Jackson took this massive rebuilding job for all the wrong reasons. "If Dolan offered him $2 million a year or even $5 million, he wouldn't have taken it," Krause told ESPN.com in 2015. "But $12 million is overwhelming. Phil didn't take the job because he thought he had a playoff club. He took the job for the money."
He took the money and ran himself out of town. Jackson didn't just publicly humiliate one Knicks star at the end of his prime (Carmelo Anthony), and another at the beginning of his prime (Kristaps Porzingis); he also guaranteed that LeBron James would never consider playing full-time in his favorite gym, Madison Square Garden, with an unnecessary and lazy-minded remark about James' business associates.
Jackson was supposed to recruit free agents, and instead he chased them away. One longtime league official said the other day that while he agreed with Jackson's desire to trade Anthony to start a true makeover, he couldn't understand why the Knicks president went out of his way to trash the forward at every turn.
"Phil didn't take the job because he thought he had a playoff club. He took the job for the money."
<cite>
Former Bulls GM Jerry Krause, in 2015
</cite>
"Doesn't he understand that Carmelo still has a really big voice amongst the players in this league?" the official asked. "No, Carmelo isn't the same player he once was, but LeBron and Chris Paul and a lot of very important stars really like and respect him. So what do you think those guys are going to say when Phil tries to recruit them to New York?"<cite>
Former Bulls GM Jerry Krause, in 2015
</cite>
They don't have to worry about that anymore. Dolan dismissed his own promise to keep Jackson for the full five years, and gave Phil the exit interview Porzingis didn't attend.
<article class="ad-300"></article>Truth is, Jackson began firing himself the day he didn't close the deal on Steve Kerr as his head coach. Derek Fisher was a disaster, and Jeff Hornacek was the very definition of an uninspiring hire. Jackson gave Anthony his no-trade clause, made the deals for Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah, and then tried and failed to pivot back to a youth movement.
"I think we know what we're doing," Jackson said on MSG-TV last week. ESPN's Jay Williams reported that Jackson fell in and out of sleep while watching (or trying to watch) a draft prospect work out, and finally Dolan woke up.
"After careful thought and consideration," the owner said in a statement, "we mutually agreed that the Knicks will be going in a different direction."
Dolan then went on about Jackson's unmatched legacy as a coach. It should be noted that Phil built that legacy, in part, by doing exactly what he did for the past three seasons.
He killed the Knicks.
