Phil Jackson talks about Knicks' failures as team president . . . but doesn't take any responsibility

Knicks president Phil Jackson speaks to the media on April 14, 2017. Credit: Richard Harbus
While Leon Rose was making his way through the trade deadline as Knicks president, the former president, Phil Jackson, was rehashing his tenure in New York, placing the blame for his dysfunctional time atop the franchise on a number of places — but not on his own failures.
Jackson, who was pushed out after openly floating the idea of trading away Kristaps Porzingis and mismanaging Carmelo Anthony, said Garden chairman James Dolan "did me a favor" by firing him.
He opened up about his time in New York while appearing on the podcast of former Lakers player Coby Karl, "The Curious Leader."
"I think that Jim felt like I was facing too big of an uphill climb and relieved me of the job because he just saw the media was going to be backing Carmelo in this situation," Jackson said. "And I was going to be the guy taking the lumps.
"It felt like a major disappointment to have to go through that and not being able to turn that thing around because it’s a heartbeat of New York. It’s a big part of what they like — their basketball team. There are long-devoted Knick fans and I appreciate their desire, but I think they get in the way of the team a lot of times."
Jackson, a former part of the Knicks’ championship seasons as a player before becoming a Hall of Fame head coach for the Bulls and Lakers, was hired as the Knicks’ president in March 2014. In just over three years, he went through three head coaches, alienated the two franchise cornerstones and mostly failed at trying to instill his coaching philosophies.
He compared himself to the treatment of former President Donald Trump by the media, saying, "I kind of understand what Trump had to live with probably for his first 3 ½ years in office with the media."
Jackson said his health kept him from coaching, but he did try to put in his triangle offense and believed that the resistance from Anthony and the rest of the team got in the way of his attempts.
He first gave the head-coaching job to Derek Fisher, one of his former players.
When Fisher had a very public personal issue, getting in a fight with Matt Barnes after flying cross-country on a day off in training camp, he never got his footing. Kurt Rambis, Jackson’s close friend, then was handed the job before being replaced by Jeff Hornacek.
"Perhaps the best thing I could’ve done was just coach the team myself," Jackson said. "But I wasn’t physically able to do that. I had to convey that through people, I chose to step in. It didn’t seem to work out. And as a consequence, I thought we had the talent but we never found that niche, that ability to just play beyond talent and play concise, connected, organized basketball."
Jackson signed Anthony to a five-year, near-max contract and gave him a no-trade clause, but when the team struggled, he tried to push him into waiving the no-trade clause. Coincidentally, the agent for Anthony who helped him make the deal was Rose.
"I wanted to trade Carmelo and . . . he’s got a no-trade clause that they asked for, but I suggested that if there was a situation — and I asked them to trade, I wanted them to be compliant with it," Jackson said. "And you can have all your choices that you want, but I want you to go along with the idea that maybe when your time has come with being with the Knicks. So that was met without compliance."
Ntilikina not dealt
The odds might have seemed better that Frank Ntilikina would be gone from the Knicks by the 3 p.m. trade deadline Thursday than in the starting lineup that night, but the fourth-year guard again beat the odds.
Ntilikina — who was drafted eighth overall by Jackson in 2017 — was inserted into the starting lineup with Reggie Bullock sidelined, playing alongside Elfrid Payton in the backcourt.
The Knicks shopped Ntilikina last year at the trade deadline. Earlier this season, they opted not to extend his rookie deal, meaning at season’s end, he will become a restricted free agent. The Knicks are unlikely to tender him the necessary $8.3 million qualifying offer.
Ntilikina has played in only 17 of the Knicks’ 45 games this season. While he has rarely played point guard, he is their best three-point shooter at 47.2%.