Phil Jackson and Derek Fisher won five NBA championship rings together in Los Angeles, but with the Lakers coming to the Garden on Sunday, both men insist they have closed the book on their former team.
“It’s been four years [since I was there], so I’ve kind of just divorced myself from them,’’ Jackson told The Post in his first public comments since his Jan. 10 mea culpa press conference following the Knicks’ fire sale of J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert.
Jackson coached Fisher and the Lakers to three consecutive NBA titles from 2000-02, and back-to-back championships in 2009-10. But with Jackson (who is engaged to Lakers president Jeanie Buss) taking over as Knicks president last March, and hiring Fisher as coach this offseason, both men said they won’t feel anything extra facing that familiar purple and gold.
“Not necessarily,’’ Fisher said.
When asked if Sunday’s game against the team he played 13 seasons for was any more important to him, he said no.
“A lot of things have changed there, so — my affinity for the city and the fans and specific people are still the same,” he said, “but a lot of people that are there now I don’t really know. So it’s just different.’’
When the Knicks played at the Lakers last March 25 — a week to the day after Jackson was hired — he attended the game at Staples Center.
But Sunday will mark the first time the Lakers have been to the Garden since Jackson and Fisher have been in the fold.
Fisher said he had no communication with the Lakers and general manager Mitch Kupchak about their vacant coaching opening before he took the Knicks job. The Lakers hired Byron Scott on a multi-year deal over the summer.
Fisher dodged the question of whether he would have been interested in coaching the Lakers if they had come calling.
“I don’t know,” he said. “Had we talked about it, I guess I would’ve decided then. But we never had any conversation about it, so I can’t say it would’ve interested me or not. I’m loving every moment of this opportunity and this job here, so I haven’t thought about the what-ifs, unless you guys ask me what I’d be doing if I wasn’t coaching here.
“I didn’t assume or expect them to [talk to me]. I’ve had enough experiences as a player with the way things are done that I didn’t assume one thing or another. As Phil and I, after the playoffs ended, spoke directly about the possibilities here, it wasn’t something that I really thought hard about. Once we started talking I don’t know if there’s anything else I really considered.’’
Nevertheless, Jackson has watched his former club enough to discern the Lakers’ effort, or lack thereof.
“They’re competing harder now,’’ Jackson told The Post. “Kobe [Bryant] and Nick Young are out. They’re starting to get some balance and continuity. So I expect a good game tomorrow.’’
Byron Scott yanked Young from last Sunday’s loss to Houston, playing him just nine minutes because of bad body language and lack of effort. Then, after Young sprained his right ankle Monday in practice, the Lakers blew a lead Tuesday against Washington and beat Chicago on Thursday.
Still, emotionally detached from the Lakers or not, Fisher said he was sad to hear that Bryant had suffered a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder last week, his third season-ending injury in as many years.
“Yeah, I definitely almost take it personal to see what he’s experiencing and what he’s going through,’’ Fisher said. “But … there are very few people that can continue to stay committing to the process of coming back from these things either. I spoke to him recently and he’s just as determined to come back from this one and his mind doesn’t see it any other way. That’s the way you have to be.’’
Fisher is a reserved, close-to-the-vest sort, but Carmelo Anthony admitted his coach had been excited about Wednesday’s win over Oklahoma City. That, however, was more because the Thunder are a quality team, not because Fisher had ended his playing career there.
“I don’t know [if he’ll be extra excited to beat the Lakers],’’ Anthony said. “I know he was excited the other day to get a win against Oklahoma. I think he was more excited that we’ve been playing good basketball the past couple of weeks, we’re starting to win here on our homecourt, more than beating Oklahoma City. But he was excited about that. I don’t know. I hope he’d be happy [if] we beat the Lakers. I hope so.’’
Bryant said he isn’t expected to travel with the Lakers, but former Knick Jeremy Lin, aka
“Linsanity,” will be in the house. Adding some spice to the matchup, Anthony recently said Langston Galloway reminds him of Lin.