The downsides — and they are BIG — are the unrelenting scrutiny, the often unrealistic expectations, the 24/7 nature of the job.
But if Phil Jackson were to ask Donnie Walsh about working in the front office for the Knicks at Madison Square Garden, there would be a definitive and immediate answer.
“I would tell him it was a great job and I loved working there,” said Walsh, who served as Knicks president from 2008-2011 and is now a consultant with the Pacers. “I loved the city, I loved the fans. I enjoyed the challenge. I enjoyed the people I worked with.”
All the people he worked with? What about Garden chairman James Dolan?
“I tried to tell all the guys in the press when I was there I didn’t have a problem with him,” Walsh said in a phone interview from Indiana.
Jackson has dominated the basketball news in New York for several days. The Knicks were awaiting a resolution on a front-office job offer, the specifications and scope of which were not yet known. Jackson is said to have rejected an offer to coach.
“The hardest thing about that job would be the scrutiny,” an executive with a rival NBA team said. “It is obviously more intense in New York but that’s because there are so many [media]. I never thought the New York media was that difficult, but I always thought the fan expectations were the problem.
“[The expectations] there are greater than just about anywhere and that leads to putting pressure on yourself,” the executive said. “But Phil Jackson? Think what that would mean. Not just instant credibility but a full-year grace period. And I don’t think Phil Jackson would hurt at all in keeping Carmelo Anthony.”
Walsh knows all about the trials of trying to lure free agents to New York (see James, LeBron; circa 2010). Would Jackson cement Anthony staying and help lure other stars?
“Really, it’s up to the individual player,” Walsh said. “Players are different. Some want this, some want that. But if you have Melo and Phil, I think it’s a good chance a lot of name players would want to latch onto that.”
And yes, Jackson would make a splash in New York, Walsh believes, a no-doubt-about-it source of credibility.
“It doesn’t get much better. Phil is one of those great — GREAT — basketball minds and I think it would mean something to him, to do it where he himself played and won [two titles] as a player,” Walsh said.
So the fans were great. The job was great. The players and the city and working for James Dolan and lunches and paying tolls, all were great. But the job had its drawbacks.
“The worst thing about it,” said Walsh, “is it really is a 24/7 job because of all the interest. From the fans, the press, now with all the social media, everybody all the time is watching, scrutinizing and demanding.”
But because of all the scrutiny, Walsh contends the New York fan has a better feel for what is going on with the team.
“The people in New York seemed to get the salary cap,” said Walsh, admitting one regret was not doing the job when he was younger. “They understood what we were trying to do with certain moves. They saw the reasoning behind moves, and were patient, knowing we were lining up [for free agency].”
And at least one other opposing executive thinks Knick fans would do it again, especially with Jackson in charge.
“There is a lot of work to be done there. I think the chemistry on that team really doesn’t flow,” the exec said. “They have to decide, ‘Is Carmelo the guy?’ and build around him. Or do they just totally rebuild?
“One problem,” the exec said, stressing he had no inside information, “is it seems Phil wants the West. And all the jobs I see are in the East.”