One man's trash is another man's treasure - or in this case a treasure fought over by two powerful personalities.
The New York Knicks are having a meltdown in January having dropped 10 of their last 12. But that's nothing new - they're the masters of collapsing in the New Year. Last January featured a love triangle followed by a coaching change. This time it's Derrick Rose going AWOL and an embarrassing war of words between Phil Jackson and Carmelo Anthony.
The power struggle between famed executive and star player is forcing the Knicks into a difficult choice. Any hope of coexisting appears long gone.
Jackson has been nipping at Anthony for months. He called out Melo's propensity to hold the ball and urged him to run the Triangle Offense to no avail, then disparaged Anthony's good friend LeBron James and his business associates. To Anthony's credit, he took those digs in strides.
Come the weekend, Jackson lobbed yet another dig, and the typically stoic and well-spoken Anthony snapped. This one came indirectly through Jackson's longtime confidant and former assistant Charlie Rosen, but Anthony was more than capable of connecting the dots.
Among the complaints from Jackson through Rosen: Anthony's athleticism is gone, Anthony isolates too much, Anthony is "shooting blanks" in the fourth, Anthony saves his energy on defense, and then haymaker, "Carmelo Anthony has outlived his usefulness in New York."
That last remark stuck with Anthony, who finally laid his cards out on the table following a lopsided loss on Sunday.
"If they feel like my time in New York is over, I guess that's a conversation we should have," Anthony said.
The two sides should talk. They clearly have plenty to say.
There won't be an easy answer if it indeed comes down to moving one of Anthony or Jackson.
The case for uprooting Anthony centers around kickstarting a rebuild. Anthony, a few months from 33, is a win-now piece for a team that isn't winning any time soon. Calls are already ringing out for the Knicks to hand the keys over to wunderkind Kristaps Porzingis, and redistributing Anthony's shots could accelerate the development of New York's youngsters.
There's also a case to be made that Jackson should go. Signed to a comically lavish deal in 2014, Jackson was billed to bring stability to the perpetually unstable Knicks. Only the opposite has happened - not only is Jackson feuding with his star player, he has also shuffled through four head coaches, while recruiting the walking PR disaster known as Derrick Rose. His record also speaks for itself: New York is 67-138 under Jackson's watch.
With both sides entrenched, moving either one of Jackson or Anthony would be a nightmare for the Knicks.
Anthony holds a full no-trade clause and he has reiterated on many occasions that he does not want to leave New York, so the Knicks' only option would be to force him out by making his life miserable. Judging by Jackson's antics, that strategy might already be in effect, although it should be noted that Jackson was the only one who agreed to give Anthony a trade kicker and the no-trade clause in the first place.
But even if Jackson had his way, there would still be ramifications. Anthony is the Vice President of the Players' Union, a future Hall-of-Famer, and a highly respected voice in the league. Doing him dirty would send an ugly message out to prospective free agents, and the Knicks need good PR in a bad way. After all, their biggest free agency coups in recent years have been a pair of broken bigs in Amar'e Stoudemire and Joakim Noah.
As for moving Jackson, that too would be costly. Knicks owner Jim Dolan spent top dollar on the Zen Master, dropping $60 million for the wisdom and clout of the superstar coach. Dropping Jackson means eating a huge chunk of change, and more importantly, it represents another bit of bad press for Dolan, who has quietly ducked the spotlight since installing Jackson.
Were Jackson to go, questions would then turn to the team he assembled. Who would be his replacement to control the roster? What will be the fate of head coach Jeff Hornacek? What about Rose's free agency? Can anyone salvage Noah's albatross contract?
The Knicks are a mess and there is no easy fix.
Then again it's no wonder why the Knicks are drowning in perpetual controversy. The Garden hasn't seen stable leadership in decades. This latest episode represents a new low - their two leaders being at odds is a clear lose-lose scenario for the team.
Casting themselves a "superteam" in preseason was nothing more than a delusion, but the Knicks are in the business of selling empty hope. Jackson grabbed every big name he could find before Rose breathed life into the fairy tale of a dramatic turnaround. With some heavy squinting and the aid of a time machine, one could trick themselves into thinking the Knicks as a contender. But that was never going to work and now the subsequent fallout has everyone on the hunt for a convenient scapegoat.
Rose, Noah, Anthony, the Unicorn, a boatload of money, and 11 rings on the hands of the man in charge have little to show for their efforts. Reality check: The Knicks are back in 10th after dropping all but two games within a month. Every season promises change but instability and mediocrity are the only constants with the Knicks.
New York should start over with a clean slate. No Anthony, no Jackson - only a visionary with the willingness to carry out a clear vision. They have a franchise player in waiting with Porzingis, an owner with limitless coffers, and New York City is a marquee destination. The Knicks should be the envy of the league, not a laughingstock.
The best organizations - the San Antonio, Toronto, and Golden States of the world - are built upon stable leadership and coherent structure. The worst organizations have neither. The Knicks are learning this lesson the hard way.
