The 2014-15 New York Knicks won 17 games, and it’s not hard to see why.
Injuries, specifically that to Carmelo Anthony, played a big role. So too did the lack of talent on the roster. The Knicks, quite simply, weren’t very good.
But they were also needlessly dysfunctional, especially before team president Phil Jackson blew shit up once he realized they weren’t going anywhere.
ESPN.com is running a series they’re calling “The Phil Files” in which Charley Rosen, a former assistant of the Zen Master, writes about in-season meetings he had with Jackson. The latest installment, Part 4, has Jackson offering a glimpse into the closed-door tire fire that was last season’s Knicks.
Let’s start with J.R. Smith. The way Jackson describes him, you can’t help but be simultaneously infuriated with and sympathetic toward the volume-shooting guard:
“J.R. had been exhibiting some delinquent behavior and had gotten into the habit of coming late to team meetings, or missing them altogether,” Jackson says. “Also, Shump and Tim [Hardaway Jr.] were regressing, so I decided to meet with them separately and try to find out what, if anything, was bothering them.”
Smith was first on the list. “We talked about his statement to the press that our shooting guard depth was going to be the team’s asset, but so far it hadn’t worked out that way,” Jackson says. “He was supposed to carry the scoring load for the second unit and he wasn’t doing the job. I also said that because of his unacceptable behavior, he had two strikes against him with this team. He didn’t really respond. He’s a very sensitive guy, with his big doe eyes. He looked like he was going to tear up. But he finally responded that he was going through some issues with his gal.” …
“On New Year’s Eve, we played an afternoon game in L.A. against the Clippers,” Jackson says. “We stayed overnight in L.A. on New Year’s Eve, so whatever might go on probably doesn’t help that we have a game the next day. “I asked Fish what players were the biggest distractions. He said that although J.R. never talked back to him, he always walked around under a dark cloud. Derek was worried that negative energy was contagious.”
Daaaaamn. No wonder the Knicks shipped Smith to the Cleveland Cavaliers for, well, nothing.
Still, this is nothing new. Smith has a reputation as a party-goer. Though there aren’t crazy amounts of stories detailing his absence from team meetings, this is hardly a revelation. The Knicks, to be frank, were probably lucky that Smith showed up to some games at all.
As for Iman Shumpert, he just needed to go:
Shumpert was next in line. “After he suffered a hip injury in Dallas, his game went rapidly downhill. Did he have any other issues to explain his decline? He said, ‘No. I don’t know what has gone wrong with my game.’ As with J. R., nothing got resolved.” …
Shumpert was another problem. “I like Shump,” says Jackson, “but he has a very loud, big personality. It was difficult for most of the other guys to deal with, especially if things don’t go well for him or the team.”
Again, nothing new here.
You can tell through the way Shumpert carries himself that he’s no tacit human being. He talks, he raps, and he probably touches nerves through that talking and rapping and, perhaps, general displeasure with losing.
Whatever. Cleveland is a good fit for Shumpert and Smith, provided the latter returns there next season. The Cavaliers have LeBron James to reel them in, and Cleveland’s night life is blasé enough to ensure Smith gets to bed before the sun rises.
Finally, and quite shockingly, we have Samuel Dalembert. He’s always been considered something of a slacker, but while he was in New York, it turns out he took his laziness to new levels of “What the fuck, dude?”
Ahem:
The other nuisance, according to Jackson, was Sam Dalembert, who had fallen asleep in the pregame locker room sessions.
Dalembert made nearly $3.9 million last season and was napping on the job. What are we supposed to conclude? That sleeping can make you millions of dollars?
That’s ridiculous.
On the off chance it’s not, and that it actually gives you enough talent to get rich through professional sports or any other occupation, I’m going to take my leave now.
It’s nap time.
