National Basketball Association

New York Knicks: Making Sense Of Phil Jackson's Actions

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 9:24 p.m. ET

Fansided, Arthur Kapetanakis/FanSided via Daily Knicks

Phil Jackson’s latest Twitter actions have New York Knicks fans scratching their heads. What’s The Zen Master’s motivation?

Phil Jackson is a very thoughtful leader, a man who famously brought the art of Zen onto the hardwood. This served him well as he charted his unique path to 11 titles as a head coach. As team president of the New York Knicks, Jackson continues to operate with great introspection.

Each roster move and public statement is carefully considered, just as his gameplans for the iconic Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers were.

Jackson’s Twitter attack of Carmelo Anthony was baffling. But one thing is for sure: The Zen Master thoroughly analyzed the consequences of his words before he fired. There is a method to the madness, as hazy as that message might be.

There are three possibilities that could make sense of the infamous tweet:

Jackson clearly feels that social media trolling of his star player is his best course of action. 2017 has been an unrelenting disaster for the Knicks, and after a prolonged public silence, this is his attempt to shake things up.

We may never get an official answer, but Phil Jackson has given the New York Knicks a crazy 2016-17 season.