Since Phil Jackson’s messy marriage with the New York Knicks ended, people all over basketball with varying levels of closeness to the situation have taken their turn blasting the former team president.
The most verbal laceration of Jackson case comes from Detroit Pistons assistant coach Tim Hardaway Sr., whose son Tim Hardaway Jr. signed a four-year deal with the Knicks in July.
It’s not the younger Hardaway’s first time playing for the Knicks, however.
He was drafted by New York in the 2013 NBA Draft, and upon Jackson’s arrival the next offseason, was traded to the Atlanta Hawks because Jackson didn’t think he was a good fit for the triangle.
So enter Hardaway Sr., who, when speaking Friday to the New York Post’s Marc Berman, ripped Jackson’s work with the Knicks.
“Him leaving was a blessing in disguise,” Hardaway Sr. told Berman.
“The whole situation was weird,” he continued. “Not just with my son. Everything that was going on — every day was a saga, a soap opera. It was unfortunate it happened to those guys. (Getting traded) let him understand what he needs to do to be a complete ballplayer. That’s what (Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer) did and Tim put the New York saga behind him and looked forward.”
Not really mincing words there.
The circus that was the Knicks under Jackson’s regime has been well-documented at this point, but it becomes more and more apparent with each new perspective just how poorly the team appeared to be run, and that it might have affected more than just Carmelo Anthony.
