Tomjanovich's exit creates intrigue
By wire services
Published February 6, 2005
Rudy Tomjanovich's abrupt resignation as coach of the Lakers last week not only shook the future of one franchise, but its ripple effect went across the country to another once-proud team.
The Lakers and the Knicks have not faced off in the NBA finals since 1973, but their misfortunes this week were linked by three men: Phil Jackson, a former Knick and former Lakers coach; Kobe Bryant, the Lakers superstar who could determine whether Jackson returns; and, to a lesser degree, Larry Brown, the Hall of Fame coach currently employed in Detroit.
Mitch Kupchak, the Lakers' general manager, allowed for the possibility that Jackson would return, even after an uncomfortable split last summer. Brown said last week that his final coaching job would be in Detroit, even if the Knicks were once his dream job.
Jackson, on vacation in Australia, laughed at all the speculation when he spoke with his companion back in Los Angeles, the Lakers vice president Jeanie Buss. Her father, Jerry Buss, is the Lakers' longtime owner.
"I fill him in as much as I can," Jeanie Buss said in a telephone interview Friday about Jackson. "It's Phil, so he loves all that. The biggest kick he got was hearing the stories of how Larry Brown was trying to get the Knicks job and then the Lakers job."
Buss said she believed that the unfailingly competitive Jackson would return to coaching; she added that he had started to lose weight to regulate stress better.
Beyond his desire to coach again, "I can't figure out what Phil's thinking," she said.
"He is a pretty smart guy; he'll go where he can be most successful," she added. "I also think he wants to go somewhere he's familiar with. In my mind, he's familiar with New York; he likes it there."
BANKER DENIES FIRING WILKENS: To hear James L. Dolan tell it, he is nothing more than the banker who enables the Knicks to spend freely, an enabler for the roster-building plans of Isiah Thomas and, above all else, merely another frustrated fan, watching helplessly as the team plummets in the standing.
As the chairman of Madison Square Garden, Dolan is effectively the Knicks' owner, and the final authority on everything related to the team.
But in a 25-minute meeting with reporters in Sacramento late Friday night, Dolan disavowed having a hand in the Knicks' maneuverings, including the departure of coach Lenny Wilkens last month.
Everything, Dolan said, is in the hands of Thomas, the team president.
"I think it would be - I don't know what the word is - presumptuous of me to go in and suggest moves with the team to Isiah," Dolan said. "Because I'm not a professional basketball person. I'm not telling you I'm not involved; I sign those checks. My involvement is primarily resources."
By resources, Dolan is referring mainly to the team's $103-million payroll, by far the highest in the NBA. For that immense sum, the Knicks have won only 18 of 46 games this season, and two of their last 17.
The team's unexpected struggles led to the resignation of Wilkens on Jan. 22, although there were indications that the decision was not entirely voluntary. The precise details are unclear, but according to one report, Dolan fired Wilkens.
Former assistant Herb Williams took over as head coach.