Was the man great? No. Did he inspire younger basketball people towards the path that leads to cultivating the next great general managers and front office executives of the NBA? Absolutely not.
Phil Jackson never once led us to believe that his days as New York Knicks president of basketball operations would resemble his legendary days on the sidelines circa the 1990s Chicago Bulls and 2000s Los Angeles Lakers. He often said old-school and stranger-than-fiction basketball things unfit for the five boroughs while simultaneously oozing a vibe that he didn’t quite work hard enough along that Association grind.