Despite the addition of big name free agents last summer, the New York Knicks‘ season have not gone according to plan. Following their loss on Wednesday against the Miami Heat, they are now officially eliminated from the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. There were lot of factors that led to their disastrous campaign, but for Scottie Pippen, he knows who to blame for it all.
The former seven-time All-Star joined Rachel Nichols on the set of ESPN's The Jump and said that he believes his former coach and current Knicks president Phil Jackson is at fault for the lack of success the franchise had this year. He added that he has not built a team with the right pieces and also gave credit to Carmelo Anthony for continuing to be professional.
“To be honest with you, I’m gonna have to go at my old coach Phil Jackson. I think he just hasn’t put the right pieces on the floor. I give a lot of credit to Carmelo, who’s been very professional at getting through this 82-game season and now he’s being benched to some degree. But this team just really hasn’t had it. And they haven’t had it since Phil Jackson landed there. There’s not been any upside to think the New York Knicks was going to be a contender. I feel bad for Carmelo. Having to go through this and having to deal with it, but he got a great contract so I’m sure he has no complaints.”
Pippen played under the tutelage of Jackson in the 1990s during their days with the Chicago Bulls and won six championships together in 1991-1993 and 1996-1998. He has been known to be a believer of the Zen Master, especially his triangle offense, which makes his strong statement even more surprising to hear.
The Knicks were able to add Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, and Courtney Lee to their fold which made the New York faithful believe that their team will make a lot of noise this season. However, what they created was the negative type, as a lot of issues and controversies surrounded the team, which did not help their cause.
With the Knicks headed to the lottery once again, and the unclear future of their franchise player, their top brass are expected to have a very busy summer. Not only do they have to decide what to do with their roster, but there could also be changes in their front office, which could mean yet another transition period for the team.
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