James Dolan and Bill Bradley could not be any different in terms of education, background and career paths. But the billionaire Knicks owner and the Hall of Fame player known as “Dollar Bill” do share a common goal: bringing Phil Jackson to New York.
The Daily News has learned that Dolan has solicited the help of Bradley, Jackson’s former Knicks teammate and longtime friend, to serve as an intermediary in the club’s negotiations with the Hall of Fame coach, who is contemplating a lucrative deal to run the Knicks.
According to a person close to Jackson, Dolan and Bradley have been working together to finalize an agreement that would make Jackson the highest-paid basketball executive in NBA history.
The source claims that reports of Jackson being offered an annual salary of $12 million are erroneous and that Jackson could be looking at a deal that pays him in excess of $15 million. The person close to Jackson also indicated that the two sides have had preliminary discussions about Jackson possibly owning a minority stake in the team.
The pairing of Princeton-educated Bradley, who was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, and Dolan may seem unlikely, but their paths have crossed before. Bradley, a former U.S. Senator and Presidential candidate, has been managing director of Allen & Company, an investment bank, since 2001. Each summer, the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference features business leaders, political figures and media tycoons, including Warren Buffett, Tony Blair and Mark Zuckerberg.
One year, LeBron James attended the conference, as did Dolan and Bradley. Coincidentally, Bradley once served as the chief outside adviser to McKinsey & Company, a management consulting firm that Dolan hired to help with the Knicks and Rangers.
Neither Dolan nor Jackson has commented publicly since the Daily News first reported last Friday that the Knicks had offered the former Bulls and Lakers coach a front office position. There are also conflicting reports over whether Jackson, who has won an NBA record 11 championships as a coach, was offered the Knicks’ head coaching job, as ESPN first reported. The source claims that Dolan and team president Steve Mills met with Jackson to specifically to gauge his interest in running the team.
Jackson has made it known for more than a year that he is not interested in coaching. He was set to become a top executive in Seattle had the Sacramento Kings relocated there. Instead, he mostly recently served as a consultant with the Detroit Pistons.
Over the past month, Jackson has told close friends that his ideal job would be similar to one Jerry West holds with the Golden State Warriors. West serves as a consultant and takes approximately two trips each month from his home in the Los Angeles area to Oakland.
Jackson is said to have little interest in moving to New York full-time and running the day-to-day operations of the club. Jackson spends most of the year in Playa Del Rey in Southern California and on his ranch in Montana. It is unclear if Dolan will insist that Jackson live in the New York area during the season and whether Jackson would be amenable to such an agreement.
“To be an executive it’s 24-7, 12 months a year,” said ESPN’s Doug Collins, a former player and coach who more than 14 years ago nearly joined the Knicks front office, “you’ve got to live where you are going to work. You’ve got to mentor coaches. You’ve got to mentor players.”
Jackson’s plan could include him hiring a general manager to run the day-to-day business while Jackson serves as the final decision maker — along with Dolan, of course. Mills would maintain a role with the club if Jackson joins the Knicks, the source indicated.
Jackson would likely want to bring in his own coach to replace Mike Woodson and run the system Jackson used with the Bulls and Lakers. TNT broadcaster Steve Kerr has been mentioned as a possible candidate. Kerr has never been a head coach before but he has remained close to Jackson over the years, and his resume — he played under Jackson and the Spurs’ Gregg Popovich — makes him an attractive candidate.
Former Knicks broadcaster Marv Albert, who works with Kerr on TNT’s telecasts, questioned whether Jackson and Dolan could peacefully co-exist.
“There will be a honeymoon, but I just don’t see Phil working in that type of environment,” Albert told The News. “And I’m not sure he’d want to live full-time in New York, which is what he would need to do.”
Even though Jackson has no front-office experience, Dolan is willing to pay top dollar to make him the face of the franchise. Dolan believes that Jackson’s presence will help the Knicks recruit top-tier free agents. There have been reports of Jackson being close to an agreement with the Knicks, but there is also a belief that Jackson is trying to get the Lakers to make a play for his services, too. Jackson spent most of his career with the club, and his girlfriend, Jeanie Buss, is a top executive with the Lakers.
