Phil Jackson To NY Despite 11th Hour Efforts By Lakers To Woo Him Back To LA

.@nyknicks it's official @PhilJackson11 will be joining the Knicks! This move will go a long way in revamping the culture of this franchise!

— Greg Anthony (@GregAnthony50) March 13, 2014




http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-jackson-knicks-bolch-20140313,0,321855.story


Phil Jackson leaves Lakers in the dust
His going to New York to become president of basketball operations for the Knicks, according to reports, slams the door shut on any possibility of him helping revitalize the team he formerly coached.



By Ben Bolch
March 13, 2014, 3:00 a.m.



The most painful loss in a throbbing Lakers season came hours after Kobe Bryant was officially declared done until October because of a perpetually achy knee.

Phil Jackson is departing Los Angeles for New York, leaving behind a Staples Center-sized sore that could fester for years.

The legendary coach had officially agreed to become the Knicks' president of basketball operations late Wednesday night, according to multiple reports, erasing any hopes of his helping to save the Lakers' front office from its bungling ways. Jackson's contract is believed to be for more than $15 million per season and could include partial team ownership.

Suddenly, a Knicks season that may or may not end with a playoff appearance is a humongous success.

The franchise that can't shake a reputation for dumb decisions just got shrewd. Jackson brings credibility, basketball smarts and a reassuring presence that replaces madcap owner James Dolan as the face of the organization.

What marquee free agent wouldn't take a lunch meeting with someone who has won 11 NBA titles as a coach and two as a player? Jackson could even seal deals by smiling wryly and sliding a book across the table like he did so many times with his Lakers players in an effort to enlighten them.

Dinner conversations figure to be even more fascinating in the household of Jackson and fiance Jeanie Buss, the Lakers' co-owner.

Jackson: "Honey, guess what."

Buss: "What?"

Jackson: "Kevin Love says he's interested in signing with us next summer."

Buss: "Wait, that's supposed to be our guy!"

Jackson: "Not anymore. Have another sip of wine."

Of course, some might say going from coach to executive is a challenge that could drive Jackson to drink even as he returns to the franchise he helped win two championships in the 1970s. He'll arrive at Madison Square Garden facing more questions than New York Mayor Bill de Blasio about the city's homeless epidemic.

Can Jackson be as savvy in constructing a roster as he was in coaching one? Will he put in the legwork required to scout and evaluate players? Will he have the patience to develop draft picks? Will he relocate to New York? Can he travel extensively at age 68?

And, perhaps most pressing, what will he do about Carmelo Anthony? Does Jackson even want the high-scoring but largely unsuccessful star back?

Anthony told reporters Wednesday that Jackson's arrival would have no bearing on the impending free agent's decision to return to the Knicks but acknowledged the value Jackson would bring to the franchise.

"You can always use Phil Jackson inside or whatever — his philosophy, his mindset, his resume, what he brings to the game, what he brings to a team or organization, that goes without even saying," Anthony said.

The Knicks have won five consecutive games, putting them only three games behind Atlanta for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, but any postseason appearance would be short-lived and ultimately meaningless.

The team's rebuild doesn't figure to be a quick one. The Knicks have no first-round draft pick this year and no cap space until the summer of 2015.

There is also the matter of who will coach the team after the inevitable firing of Mike Woodson. Among potential candidates is Steve Kerr, who played under Jackson for five seasons and could install his trademark triangle offense.

Jackson would have faced many of the same dilemmas with the Lakers, who need a new coach and more cap space because of their overly generous commitment to Bryant for the next two seasons.

But parting Los Angeles will undoubtedly be easier for someone passed over by the Lakers when they hired Mike D'Antoni five games into last season.

As usual, Jackson got in the final zing.



bob
MY NOTE:  Kobe demanded the Lakers make the effort, apparently they tried, but I don't see any way, none, that Phil was going back to LA after the way they handled the D'Antoni hiring.  The man has pride. Steve Kerr has said he's interested in coaching. Maybe, coming to an EC city near you, the Triangle!


.

A little more follow up on this.  All this is from the LA Times, who can be a bit tough on the Lakers.


http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-lakers-kobe-20140313,0,5132582.story


Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson rip Lakers management
Current and former stars of the team want the Lakers' front office to get things right now. Bryant says he has no patience to wait for the team to improve.



Lakers great Magic Johnson, left, and injured Lakers star Kobe Bryant want Lakers management to take a proactive role in ensuring the team will compete among the NBA's best next season. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times; Frank Gunn / Associated Press / March 12, 2014)


By Mike Bresnahan
March 12, 2014, 10:10 p.m.
Kobe Bryant couldn't help himself. Neither could Magic Johnson. They both demanded action from the Lakers' front office at nearly identical times Wednesday.

As Bryant told reporters he had no patience to wait for the Lakers to retool, Johnson said on Twitter the team made a big mistake in not pursuing Phil Jackson to join the front office.

Bryant was smoldering as he spoke an hour after the team announced he would not play the rest of this season because of a fractured knee.

With the free-agent crop looking less enticing than expected this summer, Bryant said he had no patience to wait until July 2015, when All-Star forwards Kevin Love and LaMarcus Aldridge could become free agents.

“No. No. Nope. Not one lick,” he said.

Then Bryant became sarcastic when talking about next season.

“Oh, yeah, let's just play next year and let's just suck again. No. Absolutely not,” he said. “It's my job to go out there on the court and perform, no excuses for it. Right? You've got to get things done.

“Same thing with the front office. The same expectations they have of me when I perform on the court, it's the same expectations I have for them up there.”

He's obviously not pleased with the Lakers' upper management.

“How can I be satisfied with it? We're like 100 games under .500. I can't be satisfied with that at all,” Bryant said. “This is not what we stand for, this is not what we play for.”

Bryant's window is small. He'll be 36 in August and has two seasons left on his contract for $48.5 million.

He said the Lakers needed to play with championships in mind “or everything else is a complete failure.

“That's how it was explained to me by Jerry [West] and all the other great Lakers that have played here. That's just how it is,” he said.

Bryant said he wanted team executives Jim and Jeanie Buss to patch up a gulf that widened in November 2012, when the Lakers hired Coach Mike D'Antoni instead of Phil Jackson. Jim Buss, General Manager Mitch Kupchak and now-deceased team owner Jerry Buss said at the time they were equally behind D'Antoni's hiring.

Jackson is Jeanie Buss' fiance.

Bryant was in disbelief that the Lakers would let Jackson join the New York Knicks' front office.

“You know how I feel about Phil. I have so much admiration for him and respect and have a great relationship with him,” he said. “Personally, it would be hard for me to understand that happening twice. It would be tough. I don't really get it.”

The “twice” refers to Jackson losing out to D'Antoni after Mike Brown was fired five games into the 2012-13 season.

Bryant wasn't quite done.

“I think we have to start at the top in terms of the culture of our team,” he said. “What type of culture do you want to have? What type of system do you want to have? How do you want to play? It starts there.

“You've got to start with Jim. You've got to start with Jim and Jeanie and how that relationship plays out. It starts there and having a clear direction and clear authority.

“Then it goes down to the coaching staff. What's Mike going to do? What do you want to do with Mike? It goes from there. It's got to start from the top.”

D'Antoni has one more guaranteed year on his contract. The Lakers are 22-42 and skimming the depths of the Western Conference.

Bryant didn't provide specifics about personnel changes he wanted.

“I can't really comment too much on that. I just want to get a phone call when somebody gets traded. Let's start there,” he said.

Bryant was still upset about the Lakers' trading Steve Blake last month to Golden State, a salary dump that saved them about $4 million in player payroll and luxury taxes.

Bryant considered Blake to be a tough competitor and close friend.

Johnson, an unpaid vice president of the Lakers, weighed in on Twitter at the same time as Bryant downloaded on reporters. It didn't appear to be planned, but Johnson was equally miffed at the Lakers despite saying earlier this year he would no longer criticize them.

“I love Jim & Jeanie Buss, but we need Phil Jackson to be the face of our great organization, the Los Angeles Lakers,” Johnson wrote in a series of tweets. “Kobe Bryant is the face of the Lakers' team. Who is the face of the Lakers' organization? In signing Phil Jackson, [Knicks] Owner Jim Dolan & [team executive] Steve Mills are saying to the Knicks fans, they're ready to win now!”

Bryant remains defiant about his eventual return to a high level of play.

“I don't want to say I'll be back at the top of my game, because everybody's going to think I'm crazy and it's the old-player-not-letting-go sort of thing, but … that's what it's going to be,” he said.

A few minutes after concluding his 10-minute interview with reporters, Bryant tweeted a link to a mildly pessimistic ESPN article titled “Kobe finally proving to be human.” Bryant added “#thankyou,” an apparent reference to criticism he would use as motivation.

Bryant said he took Lakers losses personally while he was out. Bryant has played only six games this season because of two injuries, the first a torn left Achilles' tendon he suffered in April that kept him sidelined until December. He then suffered a fractured knee in the same leg in a game Dec. 17 and he has been sidelined since.

“I feel like killing everybody every time I go to the arena. I'm just on edge every time,” he said. “I feel it probably more than anybody in the organization does. It drives me absolutely crazy.”

Bryant will begin treadmill work next week, he said, not enough time to get in shape before the Lakers' season ends April 16 in San Antonio.

“You're looking at a week left in the season or whatever the case may be,” he said. “It just didn't really seem worth it.”

Bryant did allow one moment of humor Wednesday.

It had to do with his feeling after the Lakers lost by 48 points last week to the Clippers, their worst loss in team history.

Said Bryant: “Now I know what I feels like to be a Clipper fan all those years.”



bob



.

Might as well put all this in one place.

Report: Kobe Bryant Wants Lakers To Replace Mike D'Antoni
Mar 12, 2014 5:48 PM EDT


Kobe Bryant has "no interest" in playing for Mike D'Antoni next season with the Los Angeles Lakers, according to sources. Bryant wants a new coach in place for the start of the 14-15 season.

ESPN's Stephen A. Smith reported on Wednesday that he heard D'Antoni would be fired as well and that the Lakers' pursuit of Carmelo Anthony would be the reason.

Bryant was ruled out for the season on Wednesday.

“Obviously this has been a frustrating and disappointing season,” Bryant said in a statement released by the Lakers, “but I appreciate all the support I’ve received from the Lakers and the fans, and look forward to being back and ready for the start of training camp.”

Via Sean Deveney/Sporting News


bob
MY NOTE:  I'm not a big fan of Mike D'Antoni but would/should the Lakers front office fire a coach who has been beset by injuries to his top players all year (Nash and Kobe) because a player who is going into his final year doesn't want to play for him?  If they are committed to D'Antoni's uptempo style, then they should keep him.  Firing him to keep Kobe happy for one year makes no sense to me. Kobe's at the end of a great, great career, but it is the end, and the Lakers need to move on just like us.


.

Bob,

D'Antoni was hired because of the success he had with Steve Nash.
The Lakers are not committed to D'Antoni since the Nash injuries blew up their plan.

There is no reason to keep D'Antoni around. Yes, the Lakers have had the most injuries in the NBA this season.

Even without Kobe saying anything, I would put significant money on D'Antoni getting fired.

Kobe is not going into his final year. He has two years left.

I think D'Antoni will be fired the day after the regular season is over and Kurt Rambis is hired as head coach.

tjmakz wrote:Bob,

D'Antoni was hired because of the success he had with Steve Nash.
The Lakers are not committed to D'Antoni since the Nash injuries blew up their plan.

There is no reason to keep D'Antoni around. Yes, the Lakers have had the most injuries in the NBA this season.

Even without Kobe saying anything, I would put significant money on D'Antoni getting fired.

Kobe is not going into his final year. He has two years left.

I think D'Antoni will be fired the day after the regular season is over and Kurt Rambis is hired as head coach.

TJ,


Oops, quite right, for some reason I thought this was the first year of Kobe's new 2-year deal but it isn't.  It's the last year of his old contract.

As far as Rambis replacing D'Antoni goes, you and I been predicting that all year, haven't we?  I'm surprised, quite frankly, that it hasn't happened already.  An upgrade, IMO.  

I understand that hiring D'Antoni to coach when you have Steve Nash makes sense, but doing it when Nash was 39/40 years old and his shelf life had already expired sounds a bit silly.  Having Nash teach/mentor that system to the next generation of Laker point guards makes very good sense but to bring in D'Antoni for the last 2 years of Nash's career and then call it quits?  That is just incredibly short-sighted. If you're going to milk the Kobe era for a few more years then give Kobe what he wants (and he wanted Phil. Barring that, he wanted Shaw. Now he wants Phil again, in some capacity).

I was talking to my friend Will the other day, who is a HUGE Laker fan (in more ways than one, he played offensive guard for Boise State, was drafted by Buffalo and played in the CFL) that the problem the Lakers have now is the same one Celtic fans had for 15 years.  Their management is clueless.  Dr. Buss is gone, sadly, and Jeannie's pretty good (at least in the back office) but Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak are looking dysfunctional together in the front office.  If they brought in D'Antoni just because of Nash and not for the long-term installation of D'Antoni's system (which would go in smoother with Nash) then that's not very stable.  Just my opinion, of course.

The good news, for Laker fans, is that if/when Rambis becomes head coach there might be a return of the Triangle and some semblance of stability and progress.

The bad news for Laker fans is that there are good reasons why Kobe is chewing on concertina wire right now.


bob


.

Old D'Antoni was the wrong hire obviously. I knew that before it went down.

Who cares if he won 50+ games a year with Steve Nash? His teams never played any defense and always were beaten in the playoffs. The Lakers are a franchise that prides itself on winning titles, not just games.

Even if Nash were healthy, it wouldn't have mattered. The Lakers lack the necessary pieces to compete on a nightly basis.



KJ

k_j_88 wrote:Old D'Antoni was the wrong hire obviously. I knew that before it went down.

Who cares if he won 50+ games a year with Steve Nash? His teams never played any defense and always were beaten in the playoffs. The Lakers are a franchise that prides itself on winning titles, not just games.

Even if Nash were healthy, it wouldn't have mattered. The Lakers lack the necessary pieces to compete on a nightly basis.



KJ

I agree that the Lakers didn't have the necessary pieces to challenge for the championship over the last few years.
So, what difference in wins and losses would it have mattered if LA kept Mike Brown, hired Phil or hired D'Antoni?
I don't think it would have mattered much at all.
D'Antoni is just a place holder for someone else.
It makes no sense to hire a new coach to finish out the end of the season.

money talks... The Lakers can buy their way bak into contention with the right management. Of course this presumes the incompetent Buss yields power to his sister.

tjmakz wrote:

I agree that the Lakers didn't have the necessary pieces to challenge for the championship over the last few years.
So, what difference in wins and losses would it have mattered if LA kept Mike Brown, hired Phil or hired D'Antoni?
I don't think it would have mattered much at all.
D'Antoni is just a place holder for someone else.
It makes no sense to hire a new coach to finish out the end of the season.

Well, had they hired Phil, I think he could have run a system more conducive to Dwight's playing style. Going after a legit center then selecting a run-and-gun/no defense coach that doesn't know how to adjust his system to fit his players is akin to putting A bullet in their own foot.

But even then, a championship run wouldn't have been feasible. Right now, the West is too stacked.



KJ

k_j_88 wrote:

tjmakz wrote:

I agree that the Lakers didn't have the necessary pieces to challenge for the championship over the last few years.
So, what difference in wins and losses would it have mattered if LA kept Mike Brown, hired Phil or hired D'Antoni?
I don't think it would have mattered much at all.
D'Antoni is just a place holder for someone else.
It makes no sense to hire a new coach to finish out the end of the season.

Well, had they hired Phil, I think he could have run a system more conducive to Dwight's playing style. Going after a legit center then selecting a run-and-gun/no defense coach that doesn't know how to adjust his system to fit his players is akin to putting A bullet in their own foot.

But even then, a championship run wouldn't have been feasible. Right now, the West is too stacked.


P
KJ

Dwight was and will never be a player that you build your offense around.
He is great at the things he does well.
When he tries to do too much on offense, he elbows and gets called for 3 seconds.
Add in that Kobe made it clear from day 1 that this was his team and that with the trade for Nash, LA was looking to have a guard oriented offense.  

LA did try to get Dwight his shots to the detriment of Pau who became a stretch 4.
Really, nothing worked for D'Antoni that would have worked for Phil.
Phil is probably happy that he hasn't been associated with this mess.

I assume Jeannie and Phil are no longer an "item"?

RosalieTCeltics wrote:I assume Jeannie and Phil are no longer an "item"?

They are engaged.
I believe they have been together for 15 years.