Phil Jackson reportedly leaning towards accepting NYK front office position.

Call me a skeptic, but I will believe it when I see it. The Knicks are a basket case until the summer of 2015. Phil is not known as a person who goes into challenging circumstances.

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Source: Phil Jackson and NYK expected to finalize deal by end of the week. Announcement could be made next week.</p>&mdash; Chris Broussard (@Chris_Broussard) <a href="https://twitter.com/Chris_Broussard/statuses/443404486980427776">March 11, 2014</a></blockquote>
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Disagree.

 

The thing is, Phil doesn't have the pressure to win right away. He'd walk in handcuffed right away. No draft picks and capped out. He'd have to wait it out a year to clear the books and get his picks.

 

If Jackson accepts this position with the Knicks, I have to wonder if age is catching up with him. Mentally.

 

Why? Dolan has handed the keys over to people in the past. He basically allowed Isaiah to run the team in the ground with terrible decision after terrible decision. If he gives Phil just as much control as he gave Isaiah I don't see why Phil would be dumb to take the offer.

 

Jackson gonna swoop in for a cash grab based on name recognition only.

If you want a GM, then hire a damn GM. Jackson ain't going to do anything for that team.

 

Pat Riley worked out great in Miami.

 

Steve Kerr for coach?

 

I am pretty sure Phil would make good money wherever he chose to work. It doesn't have to be the Knicks.

Either Dolan turns a new leaf and lets Phil run things or this pairing is leading to a train-wreck.

 

This is a no-lose situation for Jackson. Anything good that happens to the Knicks will be credited to him. Anything bad that happens will be blamed on Dolan. Big Chief Triangle is untouchable in almost all scenarios.

 

I know people are skeptical, but I think this will work. The key here is understanding what Phil Jackson does and doesn't bring to the table.

In virtually all departments that require technical knowledge, he is below average. Always sucked at X's and O's. Always had supremely talented players on his championship teams. So if he had championship caliber players and was not the one applying X's and O's, what exactly did he do to propel two rosters, the core of which could not win before he got there, to 11 NBA titles?

The answer is man management, and you can see it throughout his career. The way he was able to motivate his players for games without micro managing them was revolutionary then, and still a fairly new concept now. It's similar to what we're doing with McHale - he's in charge of designing the system and motivating players. McHale has assistants who do everything, but he is the guy at the top who gets players to progress within the framework of what ownership wants. Les wants to run. Les wants to avoid tanking. Morey figures out the organizational strategy, McHale figures out the basketball strategy. I digress.

Phil Jackson knows how to do three things far better than anyone else in basketball: communicate, delegate and motivate. He knows how to form and run a team, tell them what he wants, and most importantly get them to want to do it. IMO that's how he got 11 rings, because there are plenty of employees who can handle the mundane technical aspects of running a team but few who are able to do the 3 things Jackson can do. You can surround a guy like him with technical people, but you cannot surround a technical guy with a people person.

In that sense, I think he'll split into the role nicely. He'll know who to hire that can do each aspect of each job better than he can. He'll know how to tell them what he wants. He'll know how to get them to want it too. Finally, he'll know how to give them their space and watch them flourish even if it means a rocky start - which was the case with his career.

It's a refreshing change and I think the NBA is ready for it. You'll have your detractors who still want the old school execs, but that model is over because players and employees no longer respond to that kind of thing. They'll just leave, because there are alternatives. I think that, if he's given the space by Dolan to reshape and revitalize the organization, they will see great progress after his first season. Players will want to play at the Garden with Phil Jackson running things and a sidekick in Melo. I'm also certain Melo will want to stay, and that the presence of a guy like Phil Jackson will make him mature into a better team player. The way Jackson was able to do with Jordan and Kobe.

We'll see I guess. I'm not too optimistic about Dolan allowing him to do his job. That's the big IF for me.

 

A reasonable question. Because the Knicks are a mess! They have one superstar scorer in Melo, and a goulash of various parts that aren't particularly good, and/or aren't particularly healthy, and/or are very young and unproven. Jackson doesn't strike me as a "rebuilder," which is what he'd have to tackle with the Knicks, in my opinion. They have little in the way of future draft picks, not much young talent, aside from Tim Hardaway Jr. and Iman Shumpert. Prigioni may have some potential. Chandler is an obvious talent, but can't seem to stay healthy, and at 31, he's closer to the end of his career, than the beginning. Why take on this tremendous headache, with an owner who's a migraine, at age 70? I can think of several alternatives that would make more sense to me, and I'm sure you can as well.

 

If Phil was 55, not 70, I could see him having the time to see this through. As it is, his window is limited. Does he really feel he can remake this team in <5 years into something that can compete with the likes of Miami or Indy? Seemingly, his only hope is to create cap space and attract some key FA's.

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Official Phil Jackson to NY as reported by Greg Anthony</p>&mdash; Rick Fox (@Rickafox) <a href="https://twitter.com/Rickafox/status/443943973912985601" data-datetime="2014-03-12T21:57:46+00:00">March 12, 2014</a></blockquote>
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I just want to say...people really need to stop saying SAS doesn't have any sources...

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Can't wait to work with the great <a href="https://twitter.com/PhilJackson11">@PhilJackson11</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23TheZenMaster&amp;src=hash">#TheZenMaster</a></p>&mdash; JR Smith (@TheRealJRSmith) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheRealJRSmith/statuses/443949149575471104">March 13, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

What he SHOULD HAVE said was:

"Can't wait to get traded by the great @PhilJackson11 #TheZenMaster"