Phil Jackson Fired By The New York Knicks
The New York Knicks decided to part ways with Phil Jackson this morning after a three-year stint as the team’s president of basketball operations. According to Ramona Shelbourne of ESPN, the Knicks and Jackson ultimately came to an agreement to part ways this morning, after the two could not come to an agreement about buying out the contract of their star player, Carmelo Anthony.
Phil has been vocal throughout most of the season while still in his position about wanting to part ways with Anthony, saying that Melo might be better off playing for another team. The comments that Jackson made caused a rift between Melo and the franchise. This led to the Knicks finishing with another losing season and missing the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year.
Recently, Jackson had another rift with team’s star power forward, Kristaps Porzingis, for missing an exit meeting at the conclusion of the season. As a result, Phil put the team’s star of the future on the trading block just before the NBA Draft. His decision caused Porzingis to attempt to get Jackson removed from the team.
After that, Phil caught major backlash from the media and fans. Rumors began to spread about him being lazy at his job, and one prospect even stating that Jackson fell asleep during his pre-draft workout.
Phil’s drastic actions caused team owner James Dolan to finally step in and take action. On Wednesday morning, Dolan announced at a press conference that the team and Jackson have officially agreed to mutually part ways.
Prior to taking the job in New York, Jackson won 11 NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Lakers. Over the three years that Phil Jackson was with the Knicks, he made over $60 million dollars, despite the Knicks having a losing record of 90-171 and a winning percentage of 0.345.
The Knicks’ current GM, Steve Mills, will take over at the position now and also will make all the decisions for the team this coming free agency.
[Featured Image by Steven Freeman/NBAE/Getty Images]
