It’s been a banner week for Knicks president of basketball operations Phil Jackson in terms of getting the entire New York fan base to turn against him. Knicks fans called for him to be fired after reports emerged that he was taking calls about potentially trading New York’s lone young star Kristaps Porzingis.
Jackson himself acknowledged those rumors in a TV interview on Wednesday night and explained why he was seriously considering offers that came in for Porzingis. That revelation only further angered Knicks fans, and caused a legendary Stephen A. Smith rant that involved poor Lamar Odom.
While the Porzingis trade rumors are confusing, we got a new report on Thursday that further points to Jackson being completely disinterested in his job running the Knicks. ESPN analyst Jay Williams went on Outside the Lines and relayed a story told to him by a top 15 prospect who said that Jackson was falling asleep during his pre-draft workout.
"@PhilJackson11 was falling in and out of sleep during my workout." – @RealJayWilliams on a recent recruit he spoke with. pic.twitter.com/Qmh4j0X9Pu
— Bob Ley (@BobLeyESPN) June 22, 2017
This is a hilarious story and the best part about this video is Bob Ley’s stunned reaction, but, honestly, when you think about it, how can you really be all that surprised by this. Jackson’s efforts to run Carmelo Anthony out of town last year caused some to posit that the Knicks president was actively trying to get James Dolan to fire him — which Dolan has said he won’t do. Now, Jackson is threatening to deal the Knicks best young player they’ve had in over a decade and is allegedly nodding off during draft workouts.
At this point, you have to realistically consider whether Jackson wants to actually keep his job, but it appears that he (and Knicks fans) will be stuck with it until his contract runs up at the end of 2019.
