Knicks fans are using the team’s success to mock Phil Jackson.
After the Knicks defeated the Cavaliers 106-95 in Thursday’s Game 5 in Cleveland, fans in New York took to the streets to celebrate with some breaking out in “f–k Phil Jackson” chants.
The celebrations rang out through the streets in front of 4 Pennsylvania Plaza, with Knicks fans pumping their fists while ripping the Hall of Fame coach.
Knicks supporters arrived at Madison Square Garden to celebrate the Knicks winning their first playoff series since 2013 — but some might’ve stayed for the Jackson roast.
Jackson, who won 11 titles as a coach of the Bulls and Lakers, had a disastrous run as Knicks team president.
Jackson tore down a team that was coming off back-to-back winning campaigns and went 17-65 in his first season in 2014-’15.
He finished his three-year tenure 80-166.
Knicks fans took to the streets after the team’s wins in Games 3 and 4 at Madison Square Garden.
The clincher coming in Cleveland did not stop fans meeting up for another raucous celebration on Wednesday night.
Warning: Graphic Language
Jackson was already in the news earlier this week for a controversial take on the NBA.
During an appearance on the “Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin” podcast, the 77-year-old Jackson claimed he stopped watching the NBA after the “bubble” season in 2020, when games were played in Orlando, Fla. due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the time, players were allowed to wear messages on the back of their jerseys, such as “Justice,” and “Black Lives Matter,” in protest of social injustice and police brutality.
“I am not enjoying the game,” Jackson said.
“There’s a whole generation that doesn’t like the game. They did something that was kind of wanky, they did a bubble down in Orlando, and all the teams that could qualify went down there and stayed down there.
“And they had things on their back like, ‘Justice.’ They made a funny thing like, ‘Justice just went to the basket and Equal Opportunity just knocked him down.’ … My grandkids thought that was pretty funny to play up those names. …I couldn’t watch that.”
Jackson, who acknowledged his former Lakers winning the NBA Finals in the bubble, went on to explain why he believes politics should stay out of the game.
“They even had slogans on the floor and the baseline. It was trying to cater to an audience or trying to bring a certain audience to the game, and they didn’t know it was turning other people off. People want to see sports as non-political.
“Politics stays out of the game; it doesn’t need to be there.”
The NBA bubble season took place during the height of the Black Lives Matter movement — and amidst protests following a number of police killings, including the murder of George Floyd.
The Knicks will have home-court advantage at the Garden against the Heat when the second round begins Sunday at 1 pm ET.
Jimmy Butler and No. 8 Miami shocked the top-seeded Bucks in overtime, 128-126, in Game 5 Wednesday night in Milwaukee.
