Yesterday, New York Knicks President Phil Jackson took to twitter to announce that he and Los Angeles Lakers President Jeanie Buss were ending their engagement. The couple began their relationship back in 1999 when Jackson was hired to coach the Lakers following a brief retirement after leaving the Chicago Bulls.
Both parties have spoken out publicly, stating that the split was mutual and that neither had any ill-will towards the other. It is believed that the two were having trouble making their long distance relationship work, with Buss operating in Los Angeles and Jackson in New York.
Buss had the following to say on twitter about the break up; “The love of my life is the Los Angeles Lakers. I love Phil & will always. It’s not fair to him or Lakers to not have my undivided attention”. Over the last few years, both franchises have struggled in the league to remain top contenders for a championship. The Lakers haven’t made it past the first round of the playoffs since 2012 and haven’t been to the playoffs since 2013. The Knicks also haven’t been to the playoffs since 2013 where they lost in the second round to the Indian Pacers.
Both Buss and Jackson have their hands full with their respective organizations. Having recently hired Luke Walton to be the Lakers head coach, Buss’ team is full of young talent that is sure to be a real contender in the coming years if everything plays out the way her and general manager Mitch Kupchak have hoped.
While Jackson’s Knicks are 5th in the Eastern Conference right now, the team is only two games over .500 and has a long way to go before they can go up against teams like the Cavaliers and Raptors in a playoff series. If you’re a fan of either team, you can only hope that with both Buss and Jackson focusing solely on improving their organizations, that the Knicks and Lakers will soon return to the greatness both franchises have experienced in the past. You can view all the tweets from both Phil Jackson and Jeanie Buss below.
