This Will (Probably) Not End Well

Can Phil Jackson turn the Knicks around? Don’t we already know the answer to that?

Phil Jackson peaks the interest of the league every time he is rumored with a return to the NBA. As one of the greatest coaches of the game, its easy to get excited. 11 championships with two teams, what could he do wrong?

Work for the Knicks?

One might say the only person that could possibly save New York is Phil Jackson. The idea is intriguing, and while there’s no doubting Jackson’s knowledge about the NBA and the game of basketball, the biggest hurdle will not be the Knicks, but James Dolan.

Here’s how this works. Jackson’s knowledge and star power attracts a strong front office staff that will shed bad contracts, keep Melo, and bring in a coach with a system that plays to Melo’s strengths while constructing a roster that can co-exist (sounds so easy doesn’t it). Heck, even if the Knicks lose Anthony, they can blow the whole thing up and reconstruct the team in a way that’s you know, sustainable.

Here’s why this won’t work. Jackson’s knowledge and star power clashes with Dolan, Jackson gets tired of Dolan, Jackson’s lack of experience in the front office leads to poor hirings, player selections, etc. Also, Jackson realizes just how big a mess the Knicks are, and backs out before he’s sucked in too deep.

These are generalities, but the point is that even looking at this in a positive light still leaves a lot of doubts. Phil Jackson is one of the best, but that’s the problem. Dolan doesn’t come with a basketball background, but his success in the business world has left him with a bit of an ego. That ego, or rather the refusal to back the heck off when it comes to basketball decisions, has continually plagued the Knicks for decades. Remember that six year, $100 million dollar contract he gave Allan Houston? How about giving Larry Brown a five year, $50 million dollar deal to coach? Of course, those years with Isaiah Thomas were so great. And worse than the bad contracts, Dolan’s relationship with coaches and executives seems to fall apart at some point. He had a competent GM in Donnie Walsh, but that fell apart during the final year of Walsh’s contract.

Dolan seems to think throwing money at a big name will fix the Knicks (imagine him literally throwing 50 million dollars at Larry Brown). Roman Abramovich does this at Chelsea, but he doesn’t have to worry about salary caps, and he actually hires good coaches most of the time even if he fires them every six months. Dolan will be repeating the same failed pattern by hiring Jackson; paying a lot of money to an iconic NBA figure only to have it end with Phil Jackson sticking a piece of explosive bubble gum to a giant fish tank, leaving Dolan covered in fish guts as he books it for Los Angeles.

There’s little here to suggest that Jackson will be given the time or have the patience to turn the team around. The easy part of any rebuild is tearing it down, and if Anthony should leave that process will be given the fast track. Where most front offices have trouble is building the team back up. Jackson’s front office will have to be top notch with player scouting and drafting (whenever that next draft pick of theirs is). This is obvious, but its more than scouting well, the team can’t throw big money at a couple big name players and expect things to turn themselves around.

Despite all that’s stacked against Jackson, most everyone wants him to succeed (expect you sadists, but screw you anyways). If Phil were able to turn things around, it would only add to the legend that is The Zen Master, and make all of us appreciate how great Jackson is to the game. If he fails, the blame will fall on Dolan because he’ll likely have a hand in that failure, but also because most everyone won’t want to blame Jackson. Like Jordan’s stint with the Wizards, everyone will try to forget it ever happened.

Jackson’s return to the NBA has seemed inevitable for some time. It was his health, not a lack of desire, that led him away from the game. Working in the Knicks’ front office could end up being the perfect spot for him. Less travel means a healthy back, and while he won’t be coaching what greater challenge is there at this stage in his life than attempting to turn around the Knicks? Let’s just hope this doesn’t end as badly as it appears it will.