Report: James Dolan, Phil Jackson At Odds Over Personnel Decisions
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Is the honeymoon already over?
We don't know yet, but it appears that there's already some tension between Knicks President Phil Jackson and owner James Dolan.
On Monday, Jackson fired head coach Mike Woodson and his entire coaching staff after the 'Bockers failed to make the playoffs in a terrible Eastern Conference.
And it seems that the 11-time NBA champion isn't done turning over the organization.
According to the New York Daily News, the iconic former Bulls and Lakers coach wants to remove other staffers, but Dolan has voiced opposition against it. Dolan wants to keep certain employees on board.
If you remember -- how could you forget? -- just a month ago Dolan publicly stated that his new president would have total control over the basketball side of the business.
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"In his role as president, Phil will be in charge of all basketball decisions," Dolan said during Jackson's introductory press conference.
The newspaper suggests that the Basketball Hall of Famer might want to relieve those in the medical staff, the front office or the media-relations staff of their duties.
Steve Mills, Allan Houston and Mark Warkentien could be reassigned or even dismissed in the coming days or weeks, Bleacher Report has reported. It's unclear if any of those employees' statuses have caused a rift between Dolan and Jackson.
"There are a lot of good people at the Garden and a lot of good people that travel with the team," one team employee told the Daily News. "But if Phil wants to start fresh, why wouldn't you allow him to do that?"
Speaking to the press on Wednesday, Jackson indicated that there are no issues between him and Dolan.
Phil says Jim Dolan has been loyal to his promise to allow him to run the basketball operations.
— Frank Isola (@TheFrankIsola) April 23, 2014
Steve Kerr, thought by many to be the frontrunner to replace Woodson as head coach, reportedly has concerns about taking the job. There have been no reports stating that he's received an offer from Jackson.
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