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This is not the kind of thing we've ever experienced before as Knicks fans, both because Twitter is relatively new and because having an executive who can and does say whatever he wants is extremely new:
@sheridanhoops negative, I'm okay with the Dallas deal. Tyson fits there and our 3 players, Jose, Sam, and Shane are on the court.
— Phil Jackson (@PhilJackson11) December 18, 2014
@sheridanhoops our season got off to a rocky start-injuries-Tyson could not have changed the outcome. Trades are judged in 4-5 year terms.
— Phil Jackson (@PhilJackson11) December 18, 2014
@sheridanhoops remember how Pop et al complained about the Pau trade? How does that trade look now? Just relax...and be patient.
— Phil Jackson (@PhilJackson11) December 18, 2014
So yeah, Chris Sheridan apparently wrote something about how Phil Jackson and the Knicks got hornswoggled(!) in the Tyson Chandler Trade. Dad, who seems to look at his account once every few days and fire off a flurry of tweets each time he does, saw that and decided to respond.
I count four points here:
1. While Chandler thrives in Dallas, the guys the Knicks traded for are alive and playing basketball. This is true, but I'm not sure it matters.
2. The Knicks' "rocky start" has something to do with injuries. That must be partly true, but I suppose it's a small part. I think Phil might agree, even though he mentioned the injuries.
3. Chandler wouldn't have helped the Knicks avoid this bad start. I think that's somewhat true even if Hypothetical Tyson were Full Tyson and entirely true if Hypothetical Tyson were 2013-2014 Tyson.
4. Wait several years to judge a trade. Yeah. Or maybe don't sprout such a boner over who "won" and "lost" trades and consider how much preexisting context matters in these things.
Anyway, the thing that stands out to me most is that Dad's out here responding to people he doesn't even follow in defense of his managerial decisions (and chatting with journalists, too, and just having a good time). This is unfamiliar territory! Donnie Walsh slept every second he wasn't doing Knicks stuff and Glen Grunwald used to just grumble about Andrea Bargnani while massaging his pet potato, Yates.