This is exactly what I wonder about Phil. Was he really that great of a coach or was he just fortunate enough to coach Pippen/Jordan together and then win three titles with Prime Shaq/Kobe? I probably could have won 7 titles with those duos.

The only titles you can consider giving him credit for would be the last two, but even then Kobe and Pau were both top 10 players in the NBA that won two titles against a weakened Boston team (no Perkins) and in a year that Garnett tore his ACL, leading to a Magic team that really wasn’t good being in the Finals. I don’t mean to discredit a guy who has won 11 titles, but the NBA always has been and always will be a players league. More so than any other sport in my opinion. Assuming that Phil could lead this renaissance in New York as a GM was misguided from the start. Even if you believe that he was a great coach, that does nothing to suggest that he would be a great talent evaluator. The Knicks should get rid of him as soon as they can, considering that the weight he bears on the franchise is far greater than the actual value he is providing to it.