Phil Jackson hasn’t coached since 2011 and has been president of the New York Knicks since 2014. But he’s been busy since arriving in New York, hiring and firing Derek Fisher as coach, and installing Kurt Rambis as interim coach on Feb. 9.
Things haven’t exactly gotten better. Rambis is 5-9 since taking over, and the Knicks are 28-40 overall.
So is it possible that Jackson could return to coaching the Knicks next season in an attempt to try and fix the franchise?
In a Ramona Shelbourne story about Fisher’s time with the Knicks, she hints that maybe Jackson will do something he couldn’t do while he was with the Lakers — only coach the home games.
There’s even talk Jackson could offer to coach home games next season, with Rambis coaching the road games. It’s an offer the late Lakers owner Jerry Buss once flatly rejected, but it could be an interesting compromise to hiring Rambis as the head coach next season.
Nothing says “dysfunction” quite like having that night’s head coach decided by geography. If Jackson gets the 41 games at Madison Square Garden, why not coach the games in Brooklyn too? A car service can have him there in 20 minutes, depending on traffic. And Philadelphia is only about 90 minutes away by car and even faster by helicopter.
Imagine this arrangement in the playoffs. The Knicks are heading to Golden State for a Game 7 and Jackson says, “You take this, Kurt.”
Would the players pull that trick kids do on their parents? “Coach Jackson said it’s OK with him if it’s OK with you.” Next thing you know, Kristaps Porzingis is running the point and Jackson is screaming at Rambis about how he never said that was OK.
The Knicks are hilarious.
(Via ESPN)
