Clearly, Larry Brown is still upset about how his tenure with the Knicks ended. There was plenty of blame to go around during his time there and he certainly deserves some of it. Maybe he was still filled with emotion when asked about the team because he let loose on SiriusXM radio.
Much of what he said was misguided and sounds like he has an agenda. His proclamation that the Knicks should “let Phil coach” assumes Phil wants to. Obviously that was the desire of James Dolan but Phil wasn’t interested.
How much does Brown pay attention to the Knicks while coaching SMU in the NIT?
I’m sick about what’s happening with Michael (Woodson),” Brown said Monday morning on NBA Radio on SiriusXM. “The whole thing about the Knicks, I want the Knicks to be great, because the NBA needs it badly. They have the best fans
“(But) the way they’ve treated Mike Woodson, I think he went 15-5 (actually 18-6) when he took over that team two years ago. And then last year they won 54 games. I think from 2001 they might’ve won one playoff series. He’s done a remarkable job. They’ve had terrible injuries. They lost a GM (Glen Grunwald) that I thought did a great job. And then they didn’t bring any older guys. When you lose Jason Kidd and Kurt Thomas and Rasheed Wallace, you lost your locker room.
“And I think, it’s just troublesome to me to bring in Phil Jackson, not that he won’t be great, but let him coach. You’re not going to make the Knicks better by living in L.A. and being there half the time and not talking to your coach. Let him coach. He was the best coach probably ever. Let him coach. If that’s the way they want to do it let him coach and give Woody a way to leave graciously. But he’s out on the limb and that’s not fair. For a guy that really turned that franchise around and made people proud of the way they played I don’t think he’s been treated fairly and that really bothers me.”
H/T: NY Daily News