LOS ANGELES, CA – DECEMBER 03: Los Angeles Lakers head coach Phil Jackson smiles during the game against the Sacramento Kings at Staples Center on December 3, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. The Lakers defeated the Kings 113-80. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

Trying to understand the relationship between Phil Jackson and Carmelo Anthony has become the pastime of most everyone following the NBA. Today, amateur psychologists were handed another experiment regarding the duo’s relationship, this time with the veil dropping even further.

It started with this column from Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding as he tried to figure out what is going on with the Knicks. His premise: since Jackson was able to help both Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant win multiple NBA championships, he could also find the formula for Carmelo Anthony to help his Knicks do the same. While that seemed to be a stretch, Ding presented the case for the idea:

“Jackson undoubtedly overestimated his own ability—perhaps you’ve heard something lately about the no-trade clause he gifted to Melo in 2014—to kindle Anthony’s evolution from superstar to winning superstar.

Anthony is a likable person who just happens to be nothing near Jordan or Bryant in will to win. No, Jackson never thought Anthony had that fire, but he thought he could balance Anthony’s ball dominance by teaching teamwork and converting talent into a clear net positive.”

All of this is certainly interesting, but in many respects it’s just one of many articles trying to unpack the disaster that is the New York Knicks. But what makes this article even more interesting is Jackson’s response:

If anyone has a Zen Master decoder, can I borrow it while I try to figure out what Jackson means here? Since I’m not hip to the ways of the Zen besides the obvious metaphor about leopards and their spots, ProBasketballTalk’s Dan Feldman has a plausible explanation: Jackson is saying Ding is right except about Jackson misevaluating what he could do with Melo.

Everyone can figure out what “a leopard can’t change its spots” means, and it stands to reason Phil didn’t learn about this from his experiences with Melo, but with his experience with Michael Graham over 30 years ago.

Graham was a star as a freshman for Georgetown in 1984 but then was booted from the team due to academic issues. He then played for Jackson in the Continental Basketball Association, and  Alan Siegel of the Washingtonian spoke about what Jackson experienced:

“On New Year’s Eve 1986, Graham and his coach, Phil Jackson, got into it in the middle of a game. A few days later, the Patroons axed him after only 11 games.

Jackson, who went on to lead the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers to a combined 11 championships, is considered by many to have been the best coach in NBA history. But even as he used his memoir to describe leading the likes of Michael Jordan and Dennis Rodman, he still devoted space to Graham, the star he’d failed to mold back in the minors.

“Nothing I said made any difference,” Jackson wrote. “Whenever I tried to talk to him, his eyes would glaze over and he’d retreat to some dark inner corner nobody could penetrate.”

The coach described pulling off the highway the night he let Graham go and starting to cry at the thought that he might have ended the player’s promising career: “Here was a kid who was born to play basketball, someone who had enough talent to be a star in the NBA, and yet despite all my sophisticated psychology, I couldn’t reach him.”

So based on all of this, Jackson knew he couldn’t fundamentally change the kind of player Carmelo Anthony is despite the claim from Ding to the contrary. And since Jackson has been saying the same things about Melo as he has in the past, then the only question that remains is: why did Jackson give Anthony a max-deal for five years with a no-trade clause if he knew he couldn’t be changed?

All of that backstory seems like a plausible explanation for Jackson’s 140 characters, but there’s probably another explanation that’s equally good and yet totally different. No matter the explanation, one thing remains the same: Jackson and Anthony are better off if they part ways as soon as possible.

[Bleacher Report/ProBasketballTalk/Washingtonian]

 

About Matt Lichtenstadter

Recent Maryland graduate. I've written for many sites including World Soccer Talk, GianlucaDiMarzio.com, Testudo Times, Yahoo's Puck Daddy Blog and more. Houndstooth is still cool, at least to me. Follow me @MattsMusings1 on Twitter, e-mail me about life and potential jobs at matthewaaron9 at Yahoo dot com.