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New York Knicks president Phil Jackson tends to make headlines with his tweets...and not the good kind, either. It is refreshing, then, to see the Zen Master tweeting out messages of brotherhood instead of his usual digs at Carmelo Anthony. Here he is chilling with the somewhat cryptically named “Lithuanian basketball ppl.”
Lunch with Lithuanian basketball ppl, a force internationally. Kuz, one of their best players.#Knicks pic.twitter.com/vo6racc8rH
— Phil Jackson (@PhilJackson11) April 7, 2017
I’ve been extremely critical of Phil this season, so I feel it is only right to point out when he does something delightful — in this case, hanging out with two dudes who look like extras from a John Wick movie while rocking an ill-fitting jacket and a sweet satchel.
This probably has something to do with getting Mindaugas Kuzminskas to play on the Lithuanian national team for this summer’s European Championships. Marc Berman reported that head coach Jeff Hornacek is on the fence about the Knicks’ Euros — Kuz, Willy Hernangomez and Kristaps Porzingis — participating in the tournament. Perhaps Lithuania sent some guys to convince Phil. All I know is that Phil’s 2016-17 season would have been much better from a public relations standpoint if he just walked around dressed like that, taking photos with various folk.