Imagine being so oblivious that even when you’re so obviously wrong, you believe you’re right.
This is where New York Knicks president Phil Jackson is at. According to the New York Daily News‘ Frank Isola, he doesn’t believe he’s failed as an executive; he simply believes the Knicks have underachieved:
Can Jackson, a Hall of Fame coach, honestly believe he’s not undermining the authority of his head coach by running a practice? Or does Jackson already see this season as a lost cause and is trying to salvage anything he can even at the expense of hurting Hornacek?
The word around the league is that Jackson believes he built a solid roster that has simply under-performed. That is an indictment of the coach.
Let’s ignore how very, very wrong Jackson is. The bigger issue here is this belief itself.
If Phil Jackson actually thinks this is a good roster, if he’s actually inclined to blame Jeff Hornacek first and foremost, what’s to stop him from re-signing Derrick Rose this summer? Seriously. Rose was linked to a bunch of trade rumors ahead of the deadline, but maybe Jackson will believe it’s easier to replace a coach than a starting point guard he still believes to be solid. That’s a worst-case scenario, particularly for Kristaps Porzingis, who shouldn’t be forced to play alongside two me-first talents in Carmelo Anthony and Rose.
This entire Knicks season has been a sham. Through all the jokes and anger and criticism, none of us could have ever once expected Jackson would fail to see that much. The notion of him having blinders for his epic failure can only be interpreted as a demonstrative red flag.
