Phil Jackson has no plans of coaching the New York Knicks next season — not even at Madison Square Garden.
Charley Rosen, Jackson’s close friend and former assistant, told Marc Berman of the New York Post that there is a “zero percent” chance Jackson will coach any Knicks games in the future.
“Phil said it’s absolutely not true — there’s no chance he’s going to coach,” Rosen said. “It’s total fantasy — an old rumor.”
A recent report from ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne hinted that Jackson could coach the Knicks during the 2016-2017 season in tandem with Kurt Rambis. The idea would be for Jackson to only coach home games, as he is 71 and would not want to deal with traveling all the time.
An NBA source told Berman that Jackson returning to coaching is “physically unrealistic” even if he did not travel with the team. Jackson has had two hip replacements, a knee replacement and has chronic back issues.
If you read Carmelo Anthony’s recent comments about Jackson coaching, you’ll get an idea of how he felt about the rumor.
There has been a lot of speculation about Jackson’s future lately, and some of it even centers around the possibility of him leaving New York. However, much of that is a direct result of the Knicks performing miserably over the past two seasons. In reality, Jackson is being paid handsomely to turn New York’s misfortunes around. He must want to fulfill the expectations of Knicks fans.
