Longtime assistant says Phil Jackson is dealing with ‘some physical ailments’

Phil Jackson has largely kept out of the public eye since being fired as New York Knicks president in 2017, and now we have a better idea of why.

Appearing Friday on ESPNLA’s “The Sedano Show,” Kurt Rambis, a longtime Jackson assistant who served under him on the Los Angeles Lakers and again with the Knicks, discussed the physical issues hampering The Zen Master.

“He’s got some physical ailments that’s slowed him down,” he said of Jackson, per Marc Berman of the New York Post. “He’s working on getting more mobile and active. He’s trying to get some flexibility, some mobility and keep cardiovascular [health] and he rides bikes now and then.”

Rambis, who has since returned to the Lakers as a special advisor, also said that Jackson occasionally meets with Lakers head coach Luke Walton over “problematic” coaching issues.

The 73-year-old Jackson has been around the NBA for more than five decades as a player, an executive, and, of course, an 11-time champion head coach.

Berman adds that Jackson has undergone multiple hip and knee replacements and that he plans to be more visible and vocal about his ill-fated stint with the Knicks after March when he receives his final payments from the team.

Several years ago, Jackson also spoke about how health concerns helped prompt his decision to stop coaching.