Mark Jackson calls Phil Jackson a 'failure', says he was outsmarted by Carmelo Anthony

Knicks president Phil Jackson has caught a lot of flack this season for his treatment, or rather, mistreatment of star forward Carmelo Anthony. After handing Anthony a five-year, $124 million contract, complete with a no-trade clause, two summers ago, Jackson has done everything in his power to nudge Anthony away from the once-again rebuilding Knicks.

Count former Knicks All-Star point guard and current ESPN analyst Mark Jackson as one of the Knicks executive’s latest detractors, pointing to the Zen Master’s ultimate failures as a team president, and inability to handle the Anthony situation with professionalism and aplomb.

During an ABC conference call promoting the 2017 NBA finals, Jackson had this to say about the former Bulls and Lakers head coach, as transcribed by Marc Berman of the New York Post:

“As a guy running the New York Knicks, he’s done a poor job. Look at the results. He’s been a failure. Carmelo is an outstanding basketball player and handled himself remarkably. At the end of the day, he negotiated a no-trade clause, and he’s going about it the wrong way forcing him out. [Carmelo has] all the power and he’s taking full advantage of it.’’

While Jackson did go on to add that he still considers Jackson the best head coach of all-time, it’s hard to argue that the Zen Master hasn’t done a woeful job in trying to turn around the Knicks’ fortunes. One season prior to the start of the Jackson regime, the Carmelo Anthony-led Knicks won 54 regular season games, and made it to the second round of the NBA playoffs before being ousted by the Indiana Pacers in six games.

Jackson’s insistence on running his antiquated triangle offense, along with countless poor roster decisions, has once again turned the Knicks into one of the most dysfunctional franchises in the NBA. Although Jackson claims to have a ‘vision’ heading into next season, it’s hard to imagine the Knicks being semi-competent during the course of the 2017-18 campaign.

But it’s even harder to imagine Carmelo Anthony being a part of said dysfunction.