Phil Jackson Knicks Rumors: Zen Master Would Never Take on This NY Team

Phil Jackson would never come out of comfortable retirement to coach this band of New York Knicks.

But of course, we knew as soon as Mike D'Antoni exited, Jackson's name would come up. Ramona Shelburne and Marc Stein of ESPN reported:

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Phil Jackson has not had any contact with the New York Knicks about their suddenly vacant coaching job, according to NBA coaching sources.

But it has long been assumed in coaching circles that the Knicks' job is the one position that could convince Jackson, 66, to return to the bench one last time if his health cooperates.

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Do I believe the organization itself has some lure for him?

Absolutely, but with stars like Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire, the task will seem too great for Jackson at 66 years old.

Jackson has never been the type of coach that wanted to come into a situation where there hasn't already been a good measure of success.

In his first head-coaching position with the Chicago Bulls, Jackson was an assistant that took over for Doug Collins. The team had reached the Eastern Conference Finals in the 1988-89 season, the year before Jackson took over.

The Bulls won their first title in 1990-91.

He essentially just helped guide the inevitable maturation of the team.

When he went to Los Angeles, the Lakers had lost to the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference semifinals.

Phil stepped in, and the Lakers won the championship the following year. 

The Knicks are much further away from winning a title than either of those previous situations. They are 19-24 this season after going 42-40 last year. They are clearly leaps and bounds behind Miami and Chicago in the East. 

This is primarily due to the superstars that lead the team. Jackson has never won an NBA title without arguably the best player in the league on his roster. 

That includes six championships with Michael Jordan and four with Kobe Bryant and/or Shaquille O'Neal. All of these future and current Hall of Famers were in their primes when Jackson coached them.

The Knicks don't have anyone on their roster who compares or offers Jackson that safety net. 

At this point in his life, he isn't likely to be looking to take on the biggest challenge of his career.

Believe me—trying to get Anthony and Stoudemire to defend while finding out the bottom line on the now-struggling Jeremy Lin is a hell of a task.

The Knicks have tons of assets, but this is far from a ready-made situation. That is what Jackson has always had, and it is what he would want in this scenario as well.

NY is better off chasing a younger coach who has the time to deal with the growing pains this team still has to mature through.