Did I get you with that headline? This final regular-season edition of my MVP rankings is actually being published April 2 as we head into the final two weeks of the regular season. Procrastination being one of my fortes, it allows me 14 consecutive nights of sofa time to flip around on League Pass and determine, among other things, whether Cablevision is directing enough bandwidth to my neighborhood to have the League Pass games actually come on the screen. When you
NEW YORK — Pardon the ALL CAPS in the headline, but we are going to borrow a device from Jim Dolan and Irving Bierman and use that construction liberally in this post. Because frankly, OUTRAGE is not a strong enough word to describe my feelings on this issue. After writing a hateful, venomous e-mail to a fan who criticized his ownership of the Knicks, Dolan deserves to be suspended by the NBA for A MINIMUM OF ONE YEAR. At the very least
I have already written a column imploring the Knicks to hire Mark Jackson and hire him immediately, which will turn Steve Kerr into Steve Who? The New York Times is reporting today that there are three primary candidates, Brian Shaw (who already has a job with the Nuggets), Luke Walton (who has never coached before), and Kurt Rambis, an assistant with the Lakers. The New York Daily News says also in the mix is Derek Fisher, who can’t really be interviewed right now given
Steve Kerr turned down the Knicks for the Golden State Warriors. Can you blame him? So what are the Knicks going to do about it? The smart thing to do, if Jim Dolan was inclined to make the smart move, would be to issue a statement wishing Kerr luck in his first career coaching job. And make sure to mention that it is his first coaching job. Kerr is a nice guy and everything, but he isn’t the creme de la creme
NEW YORK — For Knicks superstar Carmelo Anthony, making the playoffs is all that matters. The same can be said for coach Mike Woodson. However, after a heartbreaking one-point loss to the Washington Wizards on Friday night, the Knicks find themselves one game behind the Atlanta Hawks for the final playoff spot — and two games behind in the loss column — with only five remaining games. Anthony’s desire to reach the postseason is understandable. Since entering the NBA as part of the
The Zen Master himself has returned to the NBA as the newest Big Kahuna of the Knicks. Of course, he is about the fifth in a long line of saviors who have entered the black hole known as the Knicks front office. The job suffers from the common malady known as “responsibility without authority.” Basketball experts come and go under the whim of owner James Dolan, and the team is famous for its ability to go backward a lot faster than
Don’t expect miracles right away from Phil Jackson as he takes over the New York Knicks. Unless, of course, you consider making the playoffs this season befitting of miracle status. Because as much as Jackson talked about the future and the past, it was the present where he spoke most definitively. There were at least four occasions on which he discussed the upcoming playoffs, and only once did he hedge and acknowledge the Knicks might not make it. So when Jackson steps into
Phil Jackson won’t be awful as president of the New York Knicks. He certainly won’t be as bad as Isiah Thomas was in running the club. And he will almost certainly be better than David Kahn, Bryan Colangelo, Joe Dumars, Otis Smith and Geoff Petrie have been in recent years. But Phil Jackson isn’t Isiah Thomas, or David Kahn, or Bryan Colangelo. He’s Phil Jackson, with a reputation of all things basketball that he touches turning to gold. And that’s exactly what