Somebody mentioned on ESPN (probably Chris Broussard) today that Phil Jackson wanted control over an NBA franchise, to make it his. Before that, I'd speculated nearly the opposite: that Jackson wished to serve as more of a consultant than an NBA general manager. After all, the Knicks weren't looking to fire current president/GM Steve Mills. Plus, GM is a title for younger (and now Ivy League associated), less regal men. Not for Phil Jackson.
According to CBS sports, I was half right. As per the deal he's reportedly reached with the Knicks, he'll work both alongside Mills and seemingly above him overseeing basketball operations with "president" somewhere in his title, if not the title. The former Knickerbocker -- a post that netted him 2 of his 11 NBA titles -- likely won't be heavily involved in the day-to-day affairs. That'll be the job of Mills while Jackson presumably feels around his role and maintains something of a commuter relationship with his wife and Lakers President Jeannie Buss.
Still, this is Phil Jackson. Adding someone with his reputation and abilities is an easy decision, especially for a name-dropper like (fire) James Dolan. The best part about Jackson -- from a fan's perspective -- is that he's never been afraid to speak his mind, evidenced by documented scraps with both Bulls and Lakers management. At some point, he's going to disagree with the Knicks' current methods. Likely, we'll hear about it.
More intriguing, however, will be Jackson's eye for talent and his philosophies on building a contender. For someone who's always had superstar talent, will he continue along that route and campaign Carmelo and others hard, or, as Tony Kornheiser mentioned today on PTI, go for the bigger prize, Lebron James? At his age, he seems unlikely to go the traditional route of building through the draft (also because the Knicks have the bad habit of giving up their picks like poorly run 80s franchises).
Jackson may be best compared to Pat Riley, who won titles with big names in Los Angeles, didn't with slightly lesser names in New York and Miami (as head coach), and is now winning against with the game's biggest stars as the Heat's general manager.
