Jackson has been weighing an offer from the New York Knicks to join the front office , having reportedly turned down a chance to return to the sidelines as the team’s coach. The New York Daily News reported that Jackson is expected to give the Knicks an answer this week.
But even if he gives the Knicks a no-go, league sources told Sporting News that Jackson is expected to remain at the top of the list for owners seeking front-office replacements in the coming offseason. Jackson — who is 68 and last week told USA Today’s Sam Amick that, “I don’t want to be on the sidelines. That’s for damned sure.” — is not expected to return to coaching.
“He hasn’t been shy about getting his name circulating,” one executive said. “He is a pretty calculated guy. It’s March, there will be openings coming up. If he didn’t want to be out front right now, if he didn’t want to be in charge of someone’s team, he’d be sitting quietly in Montana or Australia or somewhere. So that tells you something.”
There have been hints that Jackson wanted to try his hand in an NBA front office for some time. Once Jackson was denied a chance to re-take the reins of the dysfunctional Lakers in the wake of Mike Brown’s firing in the winter of 2012, Jackson effectively gave up on coaching.
But, last year, when hedge fund manager Chris Hansen put together a group that was attempting to buy the Sacramento Kings and move them to Seattle, Jackson had a handshake agreement to join the franchise in some capacity. Ultimately, Hansen’s bid for the Kings was rejected by the NBA’s Board of Governors, and that capacity never was determined.
Jackson also joined up with Detroit owner Tom Gores in a consultant’s role last year, advising Gores and team president Joe Dumars, specifically on the hiring of the team’s next coach. Dumars chose Maurice Cheeks, who was fired a month ago, leading to speculation about Dumars’ own job security. Jackson and Gores remain friendly, leaving open the possibility that Jackson could take over for Dumars, though that remains a longshot.
As Jackson’s name circulates among the league’s front offices, one thing to consider is that he has never really had full control of personnel decisions. During his talks with the Lakers in 2012, word leaked that Jackson had demanded more control over roster decisions as a condition of returning as coach. Both Jackson and his agent, Todd Musburger, denied that assertion.
When he was a coach, Jackson typically had tense relationships with those running the front offices of his teams. He was initially friends with Bulls GM Jerry Krause, but that relationship soon soured to the point where Jackson and Krause stopped speaking. Similarly, Jackson and Lakers head honcho Jerry West had a frosty, if less confrontational, relationship. By the time Jackson left the Lakers in 2011, team president Jim Buss was eager to cut all ties to Jackson, including his assistant coaches.
Jackson was not heavily involved in the day-to-day business of running those teams, of working the ins-and-outs of the salary cap and the collective bargaining agreement, or of evaluating players in the draft. Those are all must-haves for a modern league executive.
But Jackson does have tremendous name recognition and reputation, and that alone will give him a leg up as he seeks a return spot in the league — one which could come in New York, as soon as this week. Even if it doesn’t happen with the Knicks — or the Pistons or some future franchise in Seattle — Jackson has let it be known he wants to run a team, and there will be more than one owner willing to give him a chance.
