Last year when Phil Jackson became the new team president of the New York Knicks, he was looked at as a savior. Jackson played 12 seasons in the NBA and he helped the Knicks win their only two NBA Titles in franchise history. Jackson would then go on to win 11 NBA Championships as a head coach which is more than anyone else in league history. So when Knicks owner James Dolan appointed Jackson to his current post last year, the folks in New York City expected the Knicks to become instant winners, but that hasn’t been the case.
Jackson’s first move in New York was to name Derek Fisher as the Knicks new head coach. Fisher played for Jackson with the Los Angeles Lakers and the two helped the franchise win five NBA Championships. And when Jackson and Fisher entered Madison Square Garden, they came in as if they were Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid as they were attempting to save the Knicks from themselves.
But in the Knicks first full season under Jackson’s regime, the team went 17-65 which was the second worst record in the NBA. And in typical Knicks fashion, the ping-pong balls didn’t bounce in their favor at the NBA Draft Lottery as they were left with the fourth overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. Jackson spent this past season raving about point guard D’Angelo Russell to the point that he was fined by the NBA for publicly discussing a player that had yet to declare for the NBA Draft. Jackson was so enthralled with Russell that he never mentioned any other top prospects that the Knicks would be interested in selecting. The Lakers had the second overall pick which they used on Russell. But the calamity of errors that is the Knicks would be completed when NBA commissioner Adam Silver announced their pick.
Kristaps Porzingis
The Knicks selected power forward Kristaps Porzingis this past Thursday night and the boo birds reigned supreme at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York to the point that it sounded like Madison Square Garden. Porzingis is a 19-year old native of Latvia that Jackson compares to Dallas Mavericks power forward Dirk Nowtizki. But the folks in New York were expecting the Knicks to select a more established college player from the United States as Porzingis invokes memories of Frederic Weis in 1999.
One person that is not a fan of the selection of Porzingis is Knicks small forward Carmelo Anthony.
Carmelo Anthony
As a result of Jackson’s influence, Anthony re-signed with the Knicks last summer to the tune of $124 million over five years. Jackson promised Anthony that he would build a contender around him and even though Anthony has backtracked publicly about his displeasure of the Knicks taking Porzingis, the die has been cast as he is not happy. And although that the Ringling Brothers Circus no longer comes to Madison Square Garden, Knicks owner James Dolan (himself included) has the best clowns in town working in the front office who actually believe the garbage that this team can contend for an NBA Championship in the near future.
Jackson’s famed triangle offense has only worked when Michael Jordan and current Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant suited up for him. Jackson has never drafted a player and turned him into a star and the same can be said about him building a team from the ground up. Dolan has given Jackson full autonomy with the Knicks and as long as Dolan is willing to write the checks, Jackson can care less if the folks in the Big Apple like what he is doing. Fisher is Jackson’s apprentice with the Knicks and he is already a defeated man as Jackson handed him a beaten up Trans-Am to restore in the Knicks that instead are ready for a scrap metal yard. Anthony is 31-years old and he is coming off of knee surgery. Anthony wants to win, but he should have taken less money to join the Chicago Bulls last summer as they would have given him a more realistic shot to win. Jackson may not care what people think of his moves or lack thereof, but he’ll still has to convince the media, Anthony, and the season-ticket holders in New York why this team is ready to make a push for the postseason. Training camps in the NBA are set to open in three months and already you can write the Knicks epitaph for the 2015-2016 season before it even starts. By the looks of things, Jackson is becoming just another basketball icon that associated himself with the Knicks only to realize that they are a sinking ship that is flush out of lifeboats and it is a very long swim to shore.
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