Getty Former ESPN NBA analyst Mark Jackson's deal to call Knicks games was nixed due to old beef with an assistant coach.
Mark Jackson‘s deal to call New York Knicks road games ended before it could even start.
The Knicks management, led by team president Leon Rose, nixed the deal “in part due to an old quarrel between Jackson and an assistant coach,” according to a New York Post report.
Jackson, a New York native who played for the Knicks from 1987 to 1992, was supposed to serve as a pinch hitter for Walt “Clyde” Frazier in some of the Knicks road games this season. But his old feud with Knicks assistant coach Darren Erman prompted Rose to “not allow Jackson on the team plane, hotel or team bus,” according to The Post.
In 2014, Erman, a second assistant under Jackson at Golden State, was fired for secretly recording conversations between the team’s coaches and players, according to ESPN.
“[Erman] was taping everything,” an ESPN source was quoted saying. “Taping pregame speeches wouldn’t have been that bad, but he was taping guys just sitting around talking in the coaches’ office.”
However, the ESPN report added that it was unclear what he did with the recordings.
Still, Erman was fired for what the Warriors said was a “violation of company policy.”
Erman landed a new job as the Celtics’ NBA director of scouting, returning to Boston where he once worked with Tom Thibodeau under Doc Rivers’ coaching staff during their 2008 NBA title run.
After coaching the Maine Red Claws, Celtics G-League team, in 2019, Erman stepped down and reunited with Thibodeau in New York.
Apparently, Jackson and Erman have not squashed their beef.
The Warriors fired Jackson later that year.
Mark Jackson Takes a Swipe at Darren Erman on National TV
Two years after their unceremonious exit from Golden State, Jackson took a shot at Erman, although he did not mention his name, during a live broadcast when he was still with ESPN as an analyst.
“Shots fired!”
Bad blood with Knicks assistant Darren Erman means Mark Jackson will not call Knicks games
Then Warriors coach Jackson had assistant Erman fired in 2014 for taping conversations, shortly before Jackson himself was fired
Jackson has never gotten another coaching…
This summer, Jackson, along with former Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy, were let go by ESPN.
They were both candidates as pinch hitters for Frazier. But Van Gundy got a new job as a Celtics consultant. Then Jackson’s old beef with Erman got in the way.
Knicks Trade Target Could Become Available
Past Knicks trade target Zach LaVine could become the next star available on the trade market in the wake of the Chicago Bulls’ poor start.
“NBA teams are probing the availability of two-time All-Star guard Zach LaVine and there’s been increased openness from the organization and player about exploring a trade, league sources said,” The Athletic’s Shams Charania and Darnell Mayberry reported on Tuesday.
The Knicks checked in with the Bulls last February ahead of the trade deadline but talks did not advance, according to SNY’s Ian Begley.
Believed to be just “one player away” from title contention, the Knicks have been constantly looking to trade for a star.
They have been reluctant to trade their cache of draft capital for aging stars like James Harden and Paul George in the offseason.
The scuttlebutt is that they are saving up for reigning MVP Joel Embiid. But with the Philadelphia 76ers off to a hot start, the chances of him becoming available decreases with each win.