BOSTON — Carmelo Anthony confirmed Phil Jackson will join the Knicks imminently, but said that until he speaks with Jackson, his hiring will have no impact on whether Anthony remains in a Knicks uniform.
“I don’t think it’ll have an effect on me as far as what I’m thinking,’’ Anthony said. “I haven’t talked to Phil yet, just to get his insight on a lot of things, what’s his plan, what’s his future plan.”
Despite praise that Jackson’s “insight and knowledge’’ will benefit the franchise, Anthony said the most important thing he wants to hear from the Zen Master is a plan for the future. Anthony said he has never had a conversation with Jackson.
The Post reported in Wednesday’s editions that Jackson has an agreement in principle to lead the Knicks’ basketball operations and will receive the title of president — with the last details of the pact being finalized by attorneys.
“I still don’t have all the details,’’ Anthony said at TD North Garden on Wednesday morning as the Knicks prepared to face the Celtics. “I heard he will be coming aboard. It’s not official yet. You can always use Phil Jackson’s insight on whatever — his philosophy, his mindset, his résumé, what he brings to a team, organization — that goes without even saying.’’
Anthony, set to become a free agent after the season, said he thinks Jackson has the skill set to build a winner.
“You can’t take for granted what he knows about basketball, whether he’s on the sideline or in the front office,’’ Anthony said. “I’m pretty sure he’ll try his best to do what he has to do to build a championship here, a championship team, put guys together. He knows how to put guys together, a team together.’’
There’s also a question whether Jackson wants to keep Anthony. Jackson made critical remarks about him in a 2012 interview on HBO’s “Real Sports.” Jackson had called the Knicks’ roster “clumsy,” referring to Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire being a bad mix and saying Melo needs to pass the ball more. All along, owner James Dolan’s plan has been to build around Anthony.
“It’s the first conflict of Dolan vs. Jackson,” one league source said. “Carmelo is not Phil’s type of player or leader, and Dolan’s invested in him.’’
Anthony sounded ambivalent about Jackson in Cleveland on Saturday night, saying the front office hadn’t briefed him and he thought the hiring could wait until after the season. Anthony said Wednesday morning Knicks brass finally told him about Jackson’s hiring two days ago.
Clearly this was a move made behind the collective backs of CAA, the agency which represents Anthony and is believed to have undue influence in the Knicks organization. Jackson is represented by Chicago attorney Todd Musburger.
Asked if he ever has had a conversation with Jackson, Anthony said, “I’ve never once talked to Phil Jackson since I’ve been in the NBA.’’
Anthony said when he met with the front office, he didn’t sense his opinion was going to sway team executives.
“I don’t want to jump the gun as far as being consulted,’’ Anthony said. “They have to do what they have to do in the front office and make the moves. They brought it to me a couple of days ago. It wasn’t something [where] it was do-or-die based on my decision. Them guys were going to make the decision regardless of what I said. I kind of let the guys handle the situation and I focus on basketball and hope and pray we all do the right thing to try to build a team here.’’
In assessing Jackson’s importance, Anthony said, “It’s different that it’s the front office and not coaching. It’s a big difference. We’ll see how it plays out.’’
Anthony repeated he didn’t have specifics on how much Jackson will be around the players.
“I don’t know exactly what his role will be,’’ he said. “But I’m pretty sure any time Phil Jackson is involved, he’ll be heavily involved, whether on the bench or in the front office. The knowledge will still be there — sitting on bench [or] sitting in front office. That’s never going to change.”
Anthony saw a lot of Jackson when he was in Denver.
“The only thing I know is playing against him when he was out in LA,’’ Anthony said. “You could just see the teams put together and how much confidence he gave them guys out there — what he was able to create.’’
For his part, coach Mike Woodson said he “respects’’ Jackson but needs to think about the playoff race.
“My focus is on our team,’’ Woodson said. “I know speculation is about Phil coming. I said all along I think Phil is a great basketball person. He’s done a lot of wonderful things for our league. I got a lot of great respect for Phil. But my focus now is on this team. We got 17 games left.’’