Scottie Pippen blames his old coach Phil Jackson for New York Knick’s downfall

Winning six championship rings together apparently isn’t enough for Scottie Pippen to give his former head coach a pass.

In an appearance on ESPN’s “The Jump” Thursday, Pippen placed the blame for the New York Knicks’ struggles squarely on the shoulders of president Phil Jackson, who coached him for nine seasons on the Chicago Bulls.

 “To be honest with you, I’m gonna have to go at my old coach, Phil Jackson. I just think he hasn’t put the right pieces on the floor. I give a lot of credit to Carmelo, who has been very professional in getting through this 82-game season, and now he’s being benched to some degree… But this team really just hasn’t had it. They haven’t had it since Phil Jackson landed there.” – Scottie Pippen

The fractured relationship between Jackson and Anthony has indeed been a dark cloud hanging over the 28-47 Knicks this season. The team is just 77-162 (.322) in the three seasons since Jackson was hired, and even the one home run he hit in drafting Kristaps Porzingis has been outweighed by questionable free agent signings (four years and $72.5 million for a 32-year-old Joakim Noah, anyone?) and his inexplicable commitment to the triangle offense. Pippen may have an axe to grind with Jackson as he appeared to be interested in an assistant coaching job with the Knicks in the recent past, but he nonetheless brings up a lot of valid points here.

As for Jackson’s future in New York, it doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere. In December, it was reported that he had no plans to opt out of his contract this summer and, in fact, might want to sign a new deal in 2019. In February Knicks owner James Dolan said repeatedly that he intends to honor his agreement with Jackson. Unless one of them has a change of heart, Jackson will remain in charge, regardless of what Pippen or anybody else has to say.