Jeanie Buss: 'Phil Jackson Not Leaving Knicks to Join Lakers'

Photo: New York Daily News

May 31, 2016
Peter Solari Follow @4PeteSakeNY
  

Take this with a grain of salt: Lakers co-owner Jeanie Buss says Knicks president Phil Jackson, who happens to be her fiancé, won't be leaving New York to re-join the Lakers at the end of the 2017 season.

When asked if there was any truth to the rumors of Jackson's premature exit from New York, on Monday, Buss assured ESPN Radio's "Beadle and Shelburne Show" that the zen-master would only be returning to Southern California, "to visit."

"He's committed to New York for many years," she said. "He's building something there. He has a mission, he's on that journey to get the team back to where he believes it can be and it will be. He's a former Knick...He loves New York, he loves the fans, he wants to make them proud. In terms of the Lakers, we have a front office. They're putting together a team, they have a vision...There's no plans for Phil to come back here."

Photo: ESPN

So, there you have it. Jackson is committed to the Knicks, and turning them around. He has no interest in returning to LA...Except that it's hard to ignore the proximity of news of Jackson having an opt-out clause in his contract first breaking, and the abandonment of installing his famed triangle offense in New York.

I wouldn't put a lot of stock in what Buss is telling the media. I would expect everyone on both sides to be pretty mum on the subject, but all signs point to Jackson bolting at season's end. Maybe he won't be rejoining the Lakers, but I doubt he'll still be with the Knicks.

Anything Jackson has built, or is building in New York, isn't on firm ground. He's only been in charge of the team for two full seasons, in which the Knicks have only won 49 total games, as well as the tail end of a third season, yet he will enter 2016-17, with his fourth different head coach in that time span.

It would be best for the Knicks, and Jackson's legacy, if the two parted ways at the end of the year, and I wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised if it happens to work out that way.