Another MSG Fatality

When New York Knicks owner James Dolan named Phil Jackson as the team president in 2014, there was a renewal of excitement for a fan base that had lacked in the category for a very long time. As a player Jackson was a part of the only two NBA Championships in Knicks franchise history, while he would go on to re-write the record book by winning 11 titles as a head coach. But there were still skeptics who were wondering if Jackson was going to be able to have that same success as a front office executive.

Jackson’s success as a head coach came on the strength of his famed triangle offense. And Jackson attempted to attach the triangle to the Knicks when he named Derek Fisher as the team’s head coach in 2014. Fisher played for Jackson when he was the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers as these two helped the franchise win five NBA Championships. Fisher had just wrapped up his playing career in the NBA and Jackson was eager to groom him in regards to being a head coach.

However Fisher would never have that success with the Knicks as his first season would see New York lose a franchise worst 65 games. For the 2015-2016 NBA season the Knicks would get off to a 23-31 start and Jackson decided to part with Fisher as his maturity was brought into question. Fisher missed practice on several occasions due to the fact that he could not make it back from Los Angeles after spending time with his girlfriend who also happens to be the former wife of current NBA player Matt Barnes. Reports also surfaced about Fisher potentially being linked to a woman who was also involved with Tim Hardaway Jr., who happened to be on the Knicks roster at the time. And as the locker room began to go against Fisher, Jackson had no choice but to fire him as it marked his first official failure as Knicks team president;however there would be more to come.

When Jackson joined the Knicks front office, he inherited a star player in small forward Carmelo Anthony. Anthony is one of the better scorers of this era and now Jackson was going to attempt to sell him on the qualities of the triangle offense which could potentially lead to an NBA Championship for the Knicks. However Anthony was no closer to winning an NBA Championship than he was when Jackson joined the Knicks.

At first it appeared to be a marriage made in heaven when Jackson gave Anthony a contract extension in 2014 to the tune of a five-year deal for $124 million. But things began to sour quickly as a knee injury would limit Anthony to just 40 games in the first season under his new deal. Anthony would continue to put up solid numbers, however Jackson would publicly admit that the Knicks were rebuilding which was going to limit Anthony’s chances of winning a title. Jackson took it a step further this past season when he began to publicly criticize Anthony as it was a classic “bait and switch” with Jackson attempting to irk Anthony in order for him to waive his no-trade clause. However Anthony never budged on waiving his no-trade clause which left Jackson with egg on his face.

Jackson’s greatest claim to fame as Knicks team president was selecting power forward Kristaps Porzingis in the 2015 NBA Draft. At first the selection of Porzingis was welcomed with many boos, but he quickly was able to win over Knicks fans as in two seasons in New York he has averaged 16.1 points and 7.3 rebounds. However aside from the selection of Porzingis, Jackson’s time with the Knicks has been a train wreck.

Last summer Jeff Hornacek was hired to be the Knicks new head coach in a move that was influenced by Dolan which made people wonder if some of Jackson’s power within the organization had been taken away as Hornacek isn’t a head coach that consistently operates the triangle offense. This past season we saw the Knicks go 31-51 for their fourth consecutive losing season as the team owner, president, head coach, and star player were not on the same page. And just when you thought that things could not get any wackier at Madison Square Garden for the Knicks, Dolan decided to part ways with Jackson earlier this week.

In three years under Jackson, the Knicks never won more than 31 games in a season and they never came close to making the playoffs more less being able to win an NBA Championship as he joins a long list of basketball legends whose careers came to die at Madison Square Garden while being associated with this franchise.

As good as Jackson’s triangle was for him, it worked when he had the likes of Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, and Kobe Bryant playing for him. Jackson never attempted to adjust his style and in watching Anthony play during his time in the NBA, he should have known that his skill set doesn’t fit that system. Now instead of Jackson simply being revered as one of the greatest head coaches that the NBA has ever seen, he now must take with him the stain on his time with the Knicks. But as bad as Jackson’s time with the Knicks was, he does not deserve all of the blame.

When Dolan hired Jackson, he hired a man who didn’t have any previous front office experience in the NBA. At first Dolan gave Jackson full autonomy as for the first time he was going to attempt to be a “hands off” owner. But in giving Jackson free reign, Dolan allowed his team president to force his triangle on players that did not fit system. And as Jackson’s arrogance got in his way, it also prevented the Knicks from having any success. Jackson’s public criticism of Anthony got him in trouble, while the calamity of errors that is the Knicks franchise has already frustrated Porzingis in just two seasons in New York. Jackson’s idea of remedying the issues with Anthony and Porzingis was to attempt to ship both of them out of them out of town which is when Dolan finally decided to intervene.

So now Jackson will limp off into the sunset knowing that he could not attain the same success in the front office as he did on the basketball court, but it will be hard to feel sorry for him since Dolan recently signed him to an extension. And as Jackson has left New York, the question of who will fix the Knicks comes around the bend once again to which there is no answer as you simply cannot polish a turd no matter how hard that you try.