Knicks set press conference to announce Phil Jackson signing

Cassandra Negley

Knicks set press conference to announce Phil Jackson signing image

The New York Knicks will have a new executive in their front office by the end of the next week. 

The team has called a press conference for Tuesday, likely to announce the signing of former Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson to an undisclosed front office position.

MORE: Five NBA fights that need to happen | Mike Woodson to Hoosiers? | Rockets want Melo

UPDATE:

USA Today is reporting Jackson join the team as the leader of the front office.

Rumors of the offer and Jackson mulling the decision over have been headlines for weeks, with Wednesday reports announcing the deal as official.

Denver coach Brian Shaw, who played for Jackson and has been an assistant under him as well, said Friday that he would not be surprised to see one of his mentors take on the challenge of rebuilding the Knicks.

"I think he's a basketball lifer, a basketball junkie," Shaw said in Miami, where the Nuggets were playing the Heat. "I think that with all the success that he's had, what he's learned and his passion for the game, I think it gets boring when you do something like he's done all his life and all of a sudden you're kind of out of the mix. If he does do it, he'd be excited about the challenge of attacking the game from a different position."

Jackson played his first 10 NBA seasons with the Knicks — he was there for 11 actually, missing the 1969-70 championship season because of injury. Jackson was a key part of the 1972-73 team that won the NBA title, topping the Lakers.

New York hasn't won a championship since. Jackson has won 11 since, six with the Chicago Bulls and five more with the Lakers.

Shaw has spoken with Jackson regularly during the season, saying that his former coach will sometimes call or text to ask if a play the Nuggets run was one that they used together during their triangle-offense days. But Shaw — who will likely be mentioned as a potential coaching candidate in New York if the Knicks decide to part ways with Mike Woodson — has kept his distance from Jackson during this will-he-or-won't-he process.

"I've kind of left him alone during this period of time because I know it's a lot going on and certainly people are hitting him from every different direction," Shaw said.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Cassandra Negley