"There is only one Phil Jackson, and he is synonymous with winning basketball teams." These were the words from MSG chairman James Dolan when he introduced Jackson as New York Knicks president on March 18, 2014. Since then, Phil hasn't exhibited the work of someone "synonymous with winning basketball teams." In his two seasons overseeing the organization, The Zen Master has been responsible for plenty of front office misses, which have led to a record of 49-115.
Three months after assuming the role of Knicks president, Jackson hired Derek Fisher as the head coach who could make or break his legacy with the team. Less than two years later, Phil fired D-Fisher midway through the 2015-16 campaign after posting an overall 40-96 record as coach. While the Fisher experiment didn't work out, The Zen Master refuses to call the hiring a mistake, telling Charley Rosen of Today's Fastbreak, "I don’t consider hiring Fish a mistake because he worked hard and got the guys to stay as positive as possible while the losses piled up."
If Phil doesn't see the D-Fish hiring as his biggest mistake as Knicks president, then what is it? According to Jackson, it happened the day before the 2014 NBA Draft.
One of the first deals I engineered when I came back to New York was to trade Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton to Dallas for Shane Larkin, Jose Calderon, Wayne Ellington, Samuel Dalembert, plus a second-round pick that the Mavs owed to the Celtics. In talking with Boston, I was given the option of taking that pick or else taking Jae Crowder. I liked Crowder but I thought he wouldn’t get much of a chance to play behind Carmelo, so I took the pick which turned out to be Cleanthony Early. While Cleanthony has missed lots of time in the past two seasons with us, he still has the potential to be a valuable player. Even so, I should have taken Crowder.
So, forget the fact that Jackson:
- Parted with Tyson Chandler, the type of defensive big man and presence in the paint they have been missing over the last two seasons.
- Acquired Jose Calderon, a point guard who has been arguably one of the worst at his position in the league over the last two seasons.
- Received Shane Larkin, Wayne Ellington, and Samuel Dalembert, who never panned out in a Knicks jersey.
It's missing out on getting Jae Crowder. Um, okay.
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