When basketball fans look back on the career of the legendary Phil Jackson, they’ll think of his six titles with Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and the Chicago Bulls, the three-peat with Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant as coach of the LA Lakers, the two more he won long after Shaq had left. They might even go back to the two titles he won as a player with the New York Knicks in the early ’70s. One chapter of Jackson’s career that is best forgotten is his tenure as the president of the Knicks from 2014-17.
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Little went right during his time as an executive, with the team failing to make the playoffs or even crack 40 wins while he was there Jackson was famous for knowing all the right buttons to push during his coaching days, especially when it came to Jordan and Kobe. He was never able to do the same in New York, and his relationship with Carmelo Anthony was famously strained.
Jackson has a book coming out next week that he co-wrote with legendary Chicago sportswriter and author of The Jordan Rules Sam Smith. Masters of the Game: A Conversational History of the NBA in 75 Legendary Players goes deep on some of the greatest players to ever play, and it also features Jackson’s thoughts about his time in New York.
In excerpts published today by The New York Post, Jackson gives his version of how things went down with Melo. He wrote about conversations he had with Knicks owner James Dolan in which Jackson came to the realization that New York wasn’t big enough for both him and Melo.
“Unfortunately my relationship with Carmelo is kind of busted, and if he’s going to be here, it’s probably best that I go,” he said. Jackson even admitted to saying, “I don’t want Carmelo back on the team; we’ve got to find a way to trade him.”
That never happened, at least not while Jackson was in charge. After the Knicks decided not to buy out Melo’s contract, Jackson and the team mutually agreed to part ways. Melo was eventually traded to the Thunder a few months later for Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott and a second-round pick, ending a lackluster period of Knicks history with a whimper.
Jackson has never taken another coaching or front office role with a team, while Melo bounced around the league in his final years, playing for the Thunder, Rockets, Blazers and Lakers before retiring in 2022.
Masters of the Game: A Conversational History of the NBA in 75 Legendary Players will release on Tuesday, November 4.
