Phil Jackson says all the wrong things in press conference before NBA Draft
By John Buhler
The New York Knicks have the No. 8 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft on Thursday, but team president Phil Jackson says all the wrong things in a press conference.
The New York Knicks are definitely winning the race for having the most dysfunctional front office in the NBA. On the night before the 2017 NBA Draft, team president Phil Jackson sat down with Al Trautwig of the MSG Network on Knicks Night Live. It did not go well, as Jackson said absolutely nothing to make Knicks fans feel better about the state of their team.
ESPN’s Ian Begley compiled some of the most cringeworthy moments about Jackson’s sit-down interview with Trautwig. From young power forward phenom to aging veteran All-Star small forward Carmelo Anthony, Jackson did his best to touch all highly sensitive Knicks topics sans the Charles Oakley incident.
New York has the No. 8 pick in Thursday night’s draft with the opportunity to draft what could be a promising player in this deep crop of new talent. Instead, we had to endure rampant trade speculation surrounding Porzingis and for how long Anthony will be a Knick. This interview absolutely exacerbated things for Jackson and the Knicks organization.
Phil Jackson will speak ahead of the draft tonight: https://t.co/JqhQPxekNy
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) June 22, 2017
Correction: team sources say there’s been very minimal contact between NYK & Porzingis since skipped exit meeting. Apologies for the error. https://t.co/b1R9bLW4oa
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) June 22, 2017
Phil Jackson says the Knicks have gotten calls on Kristaps Porzingis. Says they are listening.
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) June 22, 2017
Phil Jackson on Kristaps: "As much as we love this guy, we have to do what's best for the club."
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) June 22, 2017
Phil Jackson reiterates that it may be time for Carmelo to find somewhere else to play. He said Carmelo has talked about staying in NY.
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) June 22, 2017
Phil Jackson, asked what he'd say to skittish Knicks fans: "I think we know what we're doing."
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) June 22, 2017
It’s all so bad. Where do we even begin? Probably from the beginning in the hope that we can untangle this Gordian knot of massive basketball confusion emanating from Manhattan. Begley tweeting out that “there’s been minimal contact [the Knicks] and Porzingis since skipped exit meeting” is not exactly swell. Clearly, Porzingis has some beef with his employer of the last two years.
Jackson supposedly making Porzingis available for trade is not great either because he is the Knicks’ only building block. Saying that the Knicks “are listening” to trade offers on Porzingis has to make Knicks fans’ skin crawl.
Jackson would even sandwich an Anthony jab about how he needs to play somewhere else between a pair of unthinkable quotes. He would say about Porzingis, “as much as we love this guy, we have to do what is best for our club.” Keeping Porzingis would be best for the Knicks. To add further confusion, Jackson would end it with this, “I think we know what we are doing.” That’s the ultimate confidence booster if there ever was one.
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Porzingis may be unhappy in New York, but he has great reason for his displeasure. New York is the NBA’s favorite grease fire. Thankfully no talk of The Triangle this evening. Who knows what will happen to the team on Thursday night or in July during free agency?