After earning 11 championship rings as an NBA coach, Phil Jackson has confronted a new obstacle, achieving a championship with the New York Knicks as an executive — one of his biggest challenges yet. On Tuesday, March 18th, 2014, the New York Knicks announced Jackson as their new president of Basketball operations.
Jackson, age 68, has thirteen rings, thirteen more than every current Knicks player combined. He will not have much to work with, and has to clean up the team that went 37-45 last season. A poor season for what seemed like a promising roster ended without the Knicks making the playoffs.
Acquiring Jackson was clearly a positive move for the Knicks. He has already made serious changes to this lackluster roster and staff by getting rid of coach Mike Woodson, whose poor coaching made the Knicks miss the playoffs for the first time in three years. To replace Woodson, Jackson hired former point guard Derek Fisher as head coach. Jackson will be taking Fisher under his coaching wing after leading him to five NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers.
After hiring Fisher, Jackson suggested he wear all five of his rings when first sitting with the Knicks’ ringless best player, Carmelo Anthony. This small detail was one of many tactics used to seal the deal and keep Carmelo on the Knicks. Carmelo is changing and proving himself as a team player, taking $5 million off of his contract to help the Knicks pick up better players and formulate a more solid roster.
The New York Knicks are already looking like a better squad than they were last year, with Jackson making moves to promote chemistry that was certainly lacking last season. Jackson told ESPN he picked up on that, “Watching them play I saw guys that looked at each other like, ‘You didn’t back me up, you weren’t here when I needed help.’ There just wasn’t the right combination or feel (where) it felt like everybody was in sync all the time,” he said.
Jackson traded center Tyson Chandler and point guard Raymond Felton to the Dallas Mavericks. In return for these two, the Knicks obtained guards Jose Calderon, Shane Larkin, Wayne Ellington, and center Samuel Dalembert. He also acquired two second-round draft picks used to obtain Clean Early and Thanasis Antetokounmpo. Losing one of the most overpaid centers and worst guards in the league for a six solid players was clearly favorable for the Knicks.
Newly hired coach Derek Fisher also has high hopes for the Knicks, stating in a press conference “My opinion is, based on our roster and who we’re going to become, we can compete for playing in the playoffs and playing for a championship in the Eastern Conference…When that happens, putting dates on it, that’s not my job.” Fisher has good reason to feel positive about the Knicks, considering the fact that one of basketball’s most intelligent men is spearheading their operations.
With Phil Jackson’s extensive basketball I.Q. and 13 championships under his belt, the Knicks are bound to be a championship contender in the coming years.
