Phil Jackson Out In New York, CP3 to Rockets
Professional sports change fast. In a matter of hours an individual’s fate can shift just like that. So it was for former — keyword former — President of the New York Knicks, Phil Jackson. And so it was for Chris Paul who jumped ship from the ailing Clippers to join James Harden and the Houston Rockets. These two moves will change some major things for each team. Let’s break it down.
Phil Jackson, Kazoos Part Ways
This move should come as a surprise to no one. According to ESPN’s Ian Begley, people close to Knicks owner James Dolan had been advising him to fire Jackson for much of the season. Finally after the organization decided not to administer a buyout for Carmelo Anthony, discord between Jackson and Dolan reached its logical conclusion. By Wednesday morning, Jackson who’d been with the Knicks for three years, was a free man.
“After careful thought and consideration, we mutually agreed that the Knicks will be going in a different direction,” Knicks owner James Dolan said via statement. “Phil Jackson is one of the most celebrated and successful individuals in the history of the NBA. His legacy in the game of basketball is unmatched. We wish him the best and thank him for his service to the Knicks as both a player and an executive.”
Jackson will be leaving a situation, which, honestly, had become untenable. Tensions between Anthony and the Hall-of-Famer had been simmering for months. Jackson went so far as to say publicly that it would be best for Anthony to leave the organization. Anthony, however, had no intensions of waiving his no-trade clause. Add to that Jackson’s publicly stated intensions of trading Kristaps Porzingis, the Latvian phenom drafted 4th overall in 2015; the divide between the former coach and New York only widened.
On top of that, Jackson insisted at various points throughout last season that the team run a triangle offense, to the annoyance of various players on the team.
Jackson, 71, came to New York with expectations of returning the franchise to its former glory, but he’s struggled as an NBA executive at the later stage of his career, making a number of free agency and trade errors that set the organization further back then when he got there.
Knicks general manager Steve Mills will stay in his current role and lead the team during free agency.
