A bit of Knicks history:
Rick Pitino, now trying to lead Louisville to a defense of its NCAA championship, had left the Knicks in 1989 for Kentucky after directing a pair of playoff runs that ended a three-year postseason drought. See, there was a time when three seasons constituted a drought.
One rumored replacement was Phil Jackson, an assistant in Chicago who was in line to become the head coach.
Actually, Jackson was a far more serious Knicks candidate before Pitino was hired.
“My recollection is Phil was mentioned, but it was before Ricky,” Al Bianchi, who became Knicks GM after Pitino was chosen, said in a phone interview from Arizona. “Ricky came in, replaced Bob Hill, and then I was hired.”
Pitino was the hot college name in 1987, having led Providence to a stunning Final Four appearance with a point guard named Billy Donovan who hasn’t done too poorly in the coaching ranks (and played briefly for Pitino on the Knicks).
Bianchi oversaw the hiring of Pitino’s replacement and had two candidates: eventual hire Stu Jackson, one of Pitino’s assistants, and Ernie Grunfeld, now GM in Washington after holding similar posts with the Knicks and Bucks.
“I remember I told Ernie, ‘You really don’t want this job. You don’t want to coach, you want to be in the front office,’” Bianchi said. “It was the best piece of advice I ever gave him.”
Jack Diller, the team president, recalled Jackson’s candidacy and agreed the man who was named Knicks president Tuesday was a bona fide candidate for the job that eventually went to Pitino.
“Phil was with the Albany Patroons,” Diller said in a phone interview. “But we brought him in and talked with him. He interviewed for three hours. After Rick left, his name came up again.”
Can’t say it didn’t work out for Jackson, who has won an NBA-record 11 coaching championships. Jackson saw the merits of one Michael Jordan when the Bulls vacancy opened in 1989.
“[Bulls owner] Jerry Reinsdorf approached me [because] there was some rumors that I was going to come to New York and take the job in ‘89 after Rick Pitino left, and he said, ‘Would you rather coach the Knicks or would you rather stay here and coach the Bulls?’” Jackson said at his Tuesday introduction.
“I said, ‘The Knicks could win a championship with Patrick Ewing. But the Bulls could win two or three with Michael Jordan.’”
Wrong. They won six.
“And he said, ‘I like to hear that.’ We had a really good relationship,” Jackson said.