Never Mistake A Rabbit’s Foot For Actual Competence

So Jim Dolan has his good luck charm.Calling retired, and never-GM’ed-before Phil Jackson anything but, would be a stretch. For a guy who  has never performed this role on an NBA team, who is only *thinking* about moving to New York to grind away at the job (Laguna Beach and Montana are certainly hard to leave once you get comfortable in retirement), this has disaster written all over it.

Furthermore, what the Knicks really need is time, and several long seasons of sucking even worse than they do now.When a clown car of bad GM’s before Phil have made such a long list of horrible basketball moves, you don’t just hire the Zenmaster and declare victory. You need several years, and several draft cycles of hard core, painful basketball detox.

The contracts have to run their course. The new round of quick fixes need to be avoided, and the ability to hold your hand in the fire of maybe back to back 15 win seasons must be endured.

Then, it would help for the Knicks to get lucky. Land somebody like Kevin Durant. Or convince LeBron James he will never be the “global icon” he once bragged about trying to be, until he does it in Gotham, and fills the back pages of the tabloids (in a good way!) day in, day out.

Don’t get me wrong. Nothing against good luck charms. I have a few of my own.

Just don’t pay $60 million for one, that’s all. This deal for Jackson may well be the most ridiculous deal in the history of sports. Only rivaled or exceeded by the co-owners of the St. Louis Spirits getting a slice of the NBA’s cable TV rights IN PERPETUITY, or the Red Sox trading Babe Ruth for $100,000 in cash.

(Note: I had always believed the cash helped Red Sox owner Harry Frazee finance his broadway production of “No No, Nanette” but apparently Wikipedia says it was actually “My Lady Friends.” Either way…)

When Jon Koncak got a 6-year-$13 million deal from the Atlanta Hawks, it made him a backup, white center, more expensive than Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird.

But at least he gave you a steady 4.5 points and 4.9 rebounds a night off the bench.

What is Phil gonna give the Knicks? I doubt he’ll give them anything of value, other than temporary cover for James Dolan.

Celebrity GM’s fare quite poorly in sports history, whether it’s Dan Marino lasting 3 days as the Dolphins GM, or Michael “Desk” Jordan floundering away in a Wizards suit.

Being a real sports GM is a largely thankless, unglamorous grind. And none of them look as handsome as Brad Pitt in Moneyball.

Good luck Phil. See you on the dais at the Lottery this spring.