Sorry, Mrs. Jackson…

We will not be seeing Mark Jackson’s wife making any big purchases on 5th Avenue because her husband will not be the next head coach of the New York Knicks. You can say many things about the Knicks head coaching position: the roster sucks, the owner is dysfunctional, and the team is like a billion dollars over the salary cap. However, the Knicks pay good money, as evidenced by Mike D’Antoni’s reported 4-year, 24 million dollar contract to coach the team, and it’s pretty obvious that was D’Antoni’s main selling point.

Now many pundits believe that the Knicks do not have the players to run D’Antoni’s system, which is a valid point. But then again, the Knicks did not have the players to run Larry Brown’s system, or whatever “system” Isiah Thomas tried either. The simple fact is that the Knicks’ roster is beyond horrendous and whomever they choose as coach– be it D’Antoni, Mark Jackson or Avery Johnson– the roster was going need a major overhaul regardless. At the end of the day, the Knicks made the right, if not the most logical, decision: they got the best, most proven coach on the market in the hopes that he can breathe some life into this team as they begin the process of rebuilding. Before being coached by D’Antoni, Steve Nash was a good player. Under D’Antoni, he became a two-time MVP. Maybe in his contract year, $tarbury finds his 20-9 form and Jamal Crawford thrives in this up-tempo style. One major benefit of this decision is that at least Eddy Curry (if he stays) will finally have to run the floor and get in shape. That, to me, makes D’Antoni worth every penny.