NBA

Phil Jackson: Derek Fisher was in trouble ‘almost from the start’

In the latest installment of “The Phil Jackson Chronicles” from Charley Rosen, Jackson dishes on the firing of Derek Fisher and how he and the former Knicks coach differed in their training philosophies.

Jackson mostly praised Fisher, but it seems as though the Zen Master just didn’t think Fisher’s best was good enough — especially when it comes to aligning with his favored brand of psychology gibberish.

The Knicks president also referenced Fisher’s brawl during training camp in October 2015 with Matt Barnes — a dispute stemming from Fisher dating Barnes’ estranged wife, Gloria Govan — but did not cite that as the reason for Fisher’s undoing.

“Almost from the start, this was a difficult time for Derek. Derek did have a situation that took some focus away from his coaching during the preseason, but I never doubted that his focus was on coaching the team,” Jackson told Today’s Fastbreak.

“A divorce and coast-to-coast move with children does put pressure on a person’s life, but that’s the NBA. However, Derek did move the team forward. He was dedicated and he worked hard. The players hustled and, for the most part, stayed as positive as was possible. And Derek did manage to survive last season and to deal with the heavy pressure of the constant losing, which is probably more intense in New York than in any other NBA city.”

Jackson noted that Fisher’s difficulty in finding a rotation was an issue as the Knicks’ season progressed into the winter months.

“When I was coaching, I liked to play a lot of players and usually found a rotation of nine, 10 players to play, but it was hard for Derek to find a workable rotation,” Jackson said. “Nevertheless, the team did develop under him, and we have enough pieces in place to give us a chance to compete every night.”

Jackson delved into the comparison of his and Fisher’s philosophies, pointing out how Fisher related to millennials better. There was a hint that Jackson didn’t exactly value the way Fisher connected with players who are preoccupied by their numbers of endorsements and Twitter followers.

“And because Derek was still in a player’s mindset, he’d talk to the guys about diet, how to approach shootarounds, the importance of gameday naps, of game preparation, and of being ready for the practices that are called the day after games. He was training individuals, which was really in tune with the so-called millennials, young people and young players who are primarily interested in themselves,” Jackson said.

The biggest difference between the president and former head coach, though, is how Fisher didn’t favor “training groups,” a vague concept that nonetheless seems precious to Jackson.

“One difference I had with Derek is that I’m much more interested than he was in training groups. The Knights of the Round Table kind of thing,” Jackson said. “There’s a movement called Humanistic Psychology that appeals to me, especially the work of Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers.

“In the context of this basketball team, it’s about creating a comfortable, secure workspace to help and encourage the players to self-actualize with the end of enabling them to grow together as a group.”