Francesa On Phil Jackson: 'Give Him A Whistle Or Send Him On His Way'
NEW YORK (WFAN) -- Phil Jackson is a coach trapped inside the body of an "out-of-touch" executive, Mike Francesa said Friday.
"Give him a whistle or send him on his way!" the WFAN host said of the Knicks' president.
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Francesa called much of what Jackson said during his season-ending news conference moments earlier "outrageous."
The thing that bothered Francesa most was Jackson talking about stopping coach Jeff Hornacek's practices to tutor players.
"When have you ever seen an executive walk out and stop practice? What disrespect!" Francesa said. "The back of your hand you are giving. What head coach would stand for that? Somebody who wants a paycheck, because how would you ever stand there as a head coach and ever allow somebody to walk in and stop your practice?"
Francesa's advice to Hornacek: "Run! Get out of town! You have no chance coaching under him!"
"Everything he told you there screamed that this is a ... head coach," Francesa said of Jackson. "He is not an executive. He doesn't have an executive bone in his body, we've realized that now. He has not morphed into a good executive."
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Francesa was also infuriated over Jackson saying he didn't necessarily come to New York to win a championship, but rather to develop players and help instill an identity for the franchise.
"'I didn't come here necessarily to win a championship.' What?" Francesa said. "If you had told that to George (Steinbrenner), he would've strangled you right on the stage! 'I gave you 50-plus million dollars to come here, and you didn't come here for a championship?' What the hell did you come for? To see a play?"
Francesa also didn't care for Jackson's tone in his rare public appearance.
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"First of all, he wants no part of talking to anybody," Francesa said. "He wants to just be left alone. I mean, the way he started this thing was almost unbelievable, like he was doing everyone a favor. How do you come in after three awful seasons, you're making a fortune, and you are smug and dismissive and completely arrogant about every part of this? And you've lost 166 games in three years!"
To listen to Francesa's rant, click on the audio player above.
