Report: Phil Jackson 'not happy' about Knicks' decision to hire Isiah Thomas

There's trouble afoot within the New York Knicks' organization. But what else is new?

Knicks president Phil Jackson is unhappy with owner James Dolan's decision to appoint Isiah Thomas as president of WNBA club New York Liberty, reports Frank Isola of the New York Daily News.

"He's not happy about it but what can he do about it," one Garden official, who requested anonymity, told Isola. "This is just the start of it."

Sources tell Isola that Jackson's tenure with the Knicks may be in question and that Jackson is wary of Thomas being lined up as his eventual successor.

Thomas previously held Jackson's title in a disastrous six-year tenure atop the Knicks' organization between 2003-08. New York only made the playoffs once under Thomas's watch and finished 10th or worse in five of his six years as president.

Jackson, meanwhile, has 11 championship rings to his name and signed a five-year, $60-million deal to run the Knicks in 2014. New York posted its worst season in franchise history under Jackson's watch, but the Knicks will have a top-five lottery pick this summer.

Isola speculates that Dolan will consult Thomas regarding basketball decisions for the Knicks. In a statement issued last week, Dolan sang Thomas's praises.

"He's an excellent judge of talent and I'm confident that he will put all of his energy and experience into making the Liberty a perennially competitive and successful team," Dolan wrote.

Thomas's minority ownership of the Liberty is also up in the air owing to Thomas's involvement in a sexual harassment lawsuit in 2007. Thomas's ownership has yet to be approved by the WNBA Board of Governors, and sources tell Isola that Thomas will eventually be rejected as a part-owner.

That's unlikely to affect Thomas's status as president, and it certainly won't stop Dolan from consulting Thomas on the Knicks' basketball decisions.