Former NBA head coach Mark Jackson will not be calling New York Knicks games in a part-time role this season, according to the New York Post. Jackson was slated to fill in for Clyde Frazier on some broadcasts, but that is no longer the case.
The Post reported that Jackson was not allowed on the Knicks’ chartered plane due to a beef between Jackson and one of the team’s assistant coaches. Because of that, Knicks president Leon Rose allegedly chose to end the team’s partnership with Jackson.
Jackson, meanwhile, claimed in a post on Instagram that he turned down the Knicks’ TV job, emphatically denying reports suggesting he was dismissed by the team.
“More than a week ago, I turned the job down due to the fact that it wasn’t the ideal conditions, and it wasn’t the ideal time for me,” Jackson said. “You never know what the future holds. They say, ‘Once a Knick, always a Knick.’ I bleed a side of me blue and orange. I dreamt of playing for the Knicks. I dreamt of calling games for the Knicks. It would’ve been a dream accomplished — but it just didn’t work out.
“I give the reporter credit, four calls yesterday from reporters trying to get a quote from me. I did not respond because I don’t play that game. I let it alone thinking that it’ll die and nobody will know what happened. But over a week ago, I turned the job down.”
Jackson fired current Knicks assistant coach Darren Erman in 2014, when he was the head coach of the Golden State Warriors. Erman had apparently been secretly recording Jackson and the players, which led to Jackson removing him from the staff.
Following that season, Jackson was fired by the Warriors, and he became a color commentator for ESPN. In July, ESPN announced that it was shaking up its NBA coverage and parted ways with Jackson.
Johnson was supposed to team up with Mike Breen, his old ESPN colleague, by taking on a part-time role at MSG this season. That reunion will no longer happen, and Wally Szczerbiak will fill in for Frazier instead as the Knicks continue their five-game road trip.
…..
