Mike D'Antoni is gone, Carmelo Anthony isn't going anywhere, and all that's left of Linsanity is cable-provider lawsuits. Knicks fans and basketball experts would be lying if they told you they had any idea how the rest of this shortened, bipolar season might go—but owner James Dolan has already made it clear that the Knicks will finish the season with Mike Woodson as head coach. Maybe Knicks fans can handle that, but there's only one zen master they're clamoring to see try to make something of Amare Stoudemire's bad knees and Steve Novak's wild threes: Phil Jackson. But is there any chance he'd actually join the MSG circus?
Attention immediately turned toward Jackson after D'Antoni's announcement yesterday. Jackson, who started his career with the Knicks, won 11 NBA championships with the Lakers and the Bulls before retiring in 2011. According to ESPN, Jackson hasn't had any contact with the team since D'Antoni resigned, but one source told them that Jackson would likely be "fascinated" by the prospect of "how the Knicks' (current) personnel would fit in his system." Jackson has long said he doesn't want to be a coach-for-life, but many around the league believe that the one job that could bring him out of retirement would be as Knicks head coach.
But because this is the Knicks we're talking about, most are hedging their bets about any savior swooping in: "I think Phil has too much pride to come back to draw a paycheck; he'll only come back to coach a team that adds to his legacy," said former MSG president Dave Checketts. "Phil would only return for a team that can win it, and I just don't know if you can say that about this Knicks club." The Daily News points out that another wrinkle is that Jackson probably would want to have a major say in personnel matters—and working with Dolan, who singlehandedly made last year's Carmelo deal happen, that may not happen.
But it's certainly true that if Jackson wants a true professional challenge, there'd be no better place than NYC, molding the dysfunctional, perennially-disappointing Knicks. And anyway, he'd have a couple strong building blocks: according to ESPN's source, Jeremy Lin was on Jackson's radar last season when Lin was a rookie with the Golden State Warriors—he fits with Jackson's longstanding preference for big ballhandlers in his backcourt. Maybe that can cheer up Lin, who is pretty broken up about D'Antoni leaving: “What he did for my career, I’m not going to forget what he did for me personally. It’s very emotional. I’m sad to see him go and I owe a lot to him.”
