It’s now become clear why Knicks president Phil Jackson hid for so long.
Until Monday, Jackson hadn’t spoken to the news media since three days before training camp — save for an interview with Rick Fox about Kobe Bryant’s retirement announcement. With reporters looking to hear a vote of confidence for his embattled first coaching hire, the Zen Master wasn’t ready to issue one.
But after Monday’s firing of Derek Fisher and Jackson’s subsequent news conference, we now will see more of Jackson with his buddy Kurt Rambis in charge.
Jackson hinted more than the Knicks’ record was involved in Fisher’s demise. He painted a picture of a head coach who didn’t embrace Jackson’s input — or that of his two experienced assistants, Rambis and Jim Cleamons.
Jackson spoke of getting short email responses from Fisher and setting up a film session with the entire coaching staff last month — for which not everyone showed up. Jackson called it a communication breakdown.
With his longtime friend and less-uptight Rambis as the interim head coach, Jackson can spread the Zen — as he promised in late September. Sources said Fisher encouraged more input from Jackson this season, but it didn’t materialize. Nobody can recall watching a Knicks practice and seeing Jackson and Fisher converse on the court.
Rambis and Jackson have a better rapport. Rambis, his former Lakers assistant, is an easygoing, jocular type who will embrace Jackson being around and not feel intimidated. Fisher was too uptight and didn’t have the “levity’’ — Jackson’s word — sometimes needed in the profession. Plus: Jeanie Buss, Jackson’s fiancée, and Rambis’ wife, Linda, are close friends, and Linda still works in the Lakers’ marketing department.
It was weird from Day 1 of training camp last season, when Fisher said he was “Not a Phil Jackson puppet.’’ It seemed like an unusually strong choice of words for the rookie coach. Those who have known Fisher for many years say he’s never been one to show much emotion on the court, dating to his AAU days, and that certainly was the case as a coach.
Jackson said he didn’t think about a return to the bench, “not for a second,’’ referring to his physical limitations. But more Rambo probably means more Jackson — which is a good thing.
Other observations from Phil’s presser:
• Tom Thibodeau is the fan’s choice, but not necessarily Jackson’s. All indications from the Garden are Thibodeau is a long-shot candidate. Jackson is still friendly with Jim and John Paxson, part of the Bulls front office. Jackson has heard stories of the dysfunction between Thibodeau and GM Gar Forman, though the tales he’s learned are one-sided. The Knicks don’t need any more dysfunction. Jackson is not ready to break everything he believes in, abandoning the triangle system for a head coach who hasn’t won a conference championship despite his lofty defensive deeds. Thibodeau’s two mentors are Jeff Van Gundy and the late Bill Musselman — two individuals Jackson doesn’t care for. As recently as last season, Van Gundy took a poke at the triangle and is the inventor of the derogatory Jackson nickname “Big Chief Triangle.’’ Jackson and Musselman warred during their CBA days. Musselman got the better of the former Albany Patroons coach, but the Zen Master never regarded Musselman as a man of principle. MSG has no more issues with Van Gundy, who may even show up at the Mike and The Mad Dog reunion show benefiting the Garden of Dreams charity.
• While Jackson’s decision to ax Fisher demonstrated he still believes in the roster he assembled, he did take ownership for perhaps failing to mold Fisher into a better coach. At least he owned up to something. “I may not have communicated enough in that area and actually told him in our meeting I may not have mentored you as well as I could have,’’ Jackson said.
• The Knicks have decided not to sign Thanasis Antetokounmpo to a second 10-day contract. The All-Star Break is ahead and it seems Jackson wants to have an open roster spot in case something shakes out at the trade deadline and he needs to take on an extra player. But he admitted teams aren’t knocking down the door. He made an interesting allusion, though, to players such as Lance Thomas, Langston Galloway, Arron Afflalo and Derrick Williams not having trade value commensurate with their nice seasons. “Do we sit in a really favorable spot?’’ Jackson said. “Probably not. We don’t have a tremendously amount of favorable trade items that are on our roster. Players that are good, some of them are undervalued, so you can’t get value back for what they are playing at right now.”