Phil Jackson reportedly ‘fascinated’ by Knicks, but would he mesh with James Dolan?

When news of Mike D’Antoni’s departure as head coach of the New York Knicks broke Wednesday, speculation immediately turned to Phil Jackson, who has led the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers to a combined 11 NBA titles. He’s also a former Knick, and has long been perceived as a natural fit in New York.

And while Jackson has yet to have any contact with the Knicks about their head coaching vacancy, he would be "fascinated" by how the Knicks' roster "would fit in his system," sources close to Jackson told. Jackson, for example, likes Jeremy Lin’s game and has had his eye on the point guard since his rookie season in Golden State last year.

Additionally, a league source told The Knicks Blog that Jackson has “definite interest” in the Knicks job, although it’s “too late in the season” for him to consider coaching this year.

This all jibes with a Jackson associate telling CBS Sports earlier this season that the “feeling is, all (Knicks owner James) Dolan would have to do is ask, and Phil would say yes."

But New York Daily News columnist Mitch Lawrence wonders how good a fit the Knicks really are for Jackson. Writes Lawrence, “The Knicks’ coaching job once was viewed as one of the plum jobs in all of professional sports. But those days are long gone, and it starts with Jim Dolan being viewed as a meddling owner who screwed up his own team with his deal last season for Carmelo Anthony.”

“It’s a very, very tough job because the owner is making some of the personnel decisions, as he did with the Anthony trade,” an NBA GM told the Daily News. “Then there are several layers of executives below him, before you get to the coach, and all those people are involved in one way or another.

“And then you look at that roster and it’s not set up for winning championships.”