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Keidel: If Phil Isn't Going To Take Fixing Knicks Seriously, He Should Go

By Jason Keidel
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Phil Jackson has found the back page again.

Not for a glowing trade, draft pick, or for unearthing a young basketball savant to coach the Knicks.

This time he compared Stephen Curry, who's having one of the most surreal seasons in NBA history, to the artist formerly known as Chris Jackson.

Like so many who have toiled in the social media crucible, Jackson thought he was being clever when he said Curry's record blizzard of 3-pointers, Matrix handle, and 53-5 record reminded him of Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf.

Abdul-Rauf was a gifted player who first dazzled fans in college, playing alongside Shaquille O'Neal and Stanley Roberts at LSU. Unlike Curry, who played at less-heralded Davidson, Abdul-Rauf was a top-three draft pick, and was supposed to hypnotize the NBA with his quickness, ball skills, and laser jumper.

It did not work out that way. After a few nice seasons, Abdul-Rouf pinballed around the league, winding up somewhere between Shaq and Roberts, essentially out of the NBA at 28 before taking three years off and re-emerging for a final cameo in Vancouver at 31.

Jackson doesn't seem to have grasped one of literature's top tenets -- kill all your darlings. If a sentence feels awkward, it's probably wrong, so scrap it. Jackson hopped back onto Twitter and clarified his sentiment, telling us to get a grip.

The same could be said to you, Mr. Jackson.

While the statement itself is silly and largely innocuous. it adds to the growing sense that Jackson isn't taking his role as czar of NYC basketball very seriously. And the Knicks are Big Apple basketball.

Let's be candid. Jackson has earned one gold star on his desk -- drafting Kristaps Porzingis. If not for the rookie sensation, New Yorkers would be at the gates of MSG like barbarians clamoring for Roman blood.

Jackson is being paid an epic $12 million a year to turn this basketball tanker around. He gave Derek Fisher $25 million to be the captain of the revival, then fired him after he posted a 40-96 record.

Then he promotes Kurt Rambis, who's off to a glittering 2-5 start to his Knicks tenure. If you expect Rambis to lead the hardwood revival, keep waiting. Rambis' NBA coaching record is 58-150. So far, he's best known for having his Twitter account hacked by some pornographic account. (Insert punchline here.)

It speaks to Jackson's loyalty to his minions, and an inability to look beyond the triangle and his wilted coaching tree. Knicks fans want Jackson to hire Tom Thibodeau, but he won't.

Knicks fans would like Jackson to draft a stud in the first round this spring, but he won't. And can't. Toronto will grab it thanks to that stellar Andrea Bargnani trade a few years ago.

Knicks fans want him to trade Carmelo Anthony, but he won't. And can't. Because he gave Melo an iron-clad basketball prenup, including a no-trade clause that not even LeBron James enjoys.

Some players with a no-trade clause? Dirk Nowitzki. Kobe Bryant. Dwayne Wade. Tim Duncan. What do they all have in common? Championships. Melo is the only player in the NBA with said clause and no rings.

Jackson should just do our fair city a solid and hand the keys to MSG over to someone way more interested and invested in the team. Swap his suit for flip-flops, head back to beaches of California, and reconnect with his longtime sweetheart, Jeanie Buss, who runs the L.A. Lakers.

For a few years Jackson was able to hide behind his rings and the dream cloud of the native son come back home. Before Jackson stacked his 11 Larry O'Brien trophies, he was a Knick, back when the Knicks were truly worthy of their Broadway billing.

Perhaps you are like me and your parents recalled countless stories of the halcyon years, when you could squat courtside for 10 bucks and watch through a thin cloud of cigar smoke while Clyde, Pearl, Bill, and Willis played the very game that Jackson tweaked into coaching immortality.

While some of us never bought into the Phil Jackson experiment, it makes sense that many did. Someone with 13 total rings should have a handle on how to run a basketball team, even if he had never sat in the executive suite.

But while we can argue the merits of any one move, Jackson's time in Manhattan has been a failure. There can only be one Dark Knight of Gotham, and he's way closer to the 7 Train than 7th Ave.

Follow Jason on Twitter at @JasonKeidel

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