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
Stan Van Gundy, who lost his coaching job as part of the “Dwightmare” saga that surrounded the Orlando Magic, said in a radio interview Monday that CEO Alex Martins showed “naivete” in his belief that the coach could not relate to players. Van Gundy appeared Monday morning on Orlando Sentinel writer Mike Bianchi’s show on 740 AM. He was fired by Martins after Orlando’s first-round playoff exit to Indiana – without the injured Dwight Howard – following his fifth straight winning
I’ve already told you that Dwight Howard wants out of Orlando, and now I have another piece of info to report. A plugged-in league source tells SheridanHoops.com that the feeling is mutual, and Orlando is prepared to trade him sooner rather than later. The source said that when Magic team president traveled to Michigan last weekend to speak in person with owner Rich DeVos, the conclusion was reached that not only was it time for Stan Van Gundy and Otis Smith to go,
Jerry Sloan wants back into coaching. The long-time coach of the Utah Jazz, who abruptly resigned midway through the 2010-11 season following a feud with star point guard Deron Williams, will be interviewing for one current vacancy and is interested in another. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Sloan has spoken with Charlotte Bobcats owner Michael Jordan about the coach opening with the NBA’s worst team and could meet with him as early as this week. The Bobcats are looking for a new
// Dwight Howard wants out of Orlando, the events of yesterday notwithstanding, a source close to Howard tells SheridanHoops.com On the day coach Stan Van Gandy and general manager Otis Smith lost their jobs with the Magic, a source who has spoken with Howard recently said the All-Star center desperately wants to be traded prior to the start of next season. And although the Brooklyn Nets are still considered the frontrunner, “it is not going to be a one-horse race,” the source said,
Dwight Howard’s decision to stay another season didn’t turn out to be such good news for the Magic, after all? Gosh, who’d have thunk it? Before zeroing in on the Magic, I should note, in fairness, it’s hardly the NBA’s only dysfunctional organization. Actually, as a former GM noted the other day, dysfunction is the rule, not the exception. Take the Lakers. They’ve been as sharp as anyone despite a sibling rivalry between Jim and Jeannie Buss, with father Jerry supporting Jim and former coach
Infamous "Pull my finger" Sports Illustrated cover
If you are Orlando Magic owner Rich DeVos, what are you thinking as you wake up this morning? For one thing, you’ve got to be grateful to be walking the earth for another day, still having your wits about you. But on the other hand, your team just had its most embarrassing loss of the season, your coach sounds apoplectic, your superstar’s intentions are unclear, and there is no way in hell you can convince yourself that your team is capable of