Knicks president Phil Jackson is out West, eventually heading to his Montana ranch at Flathead Lake.
After bolting New York last weekend, Jackson made a pit stop in Sioux City, Iowa, tweeting a photo of a Thai restaurant Tuesday. Later, his brother told a TV station that Jackson will drop him off at his home in Idaho before ending up in Montana.
The Zen Master has headed to the frontier to collect his thoughts on a coaching search mostly mocked for its relative inactivity and that has placed interim coach Kurt Rambis as front-runner.
“Still thinking it through,” one Jackson associate told The Post. “He’s always been such a quick thinker — always three, four steps ahead of everybody else. But that’s as coach. Being the executive is really different for him.”
In 2013, Jackson wrote in the Wall Street Journal of his Montana retreat: “The lake is my clinic. This is where I come to get back in tune with my innermost self after a long, emotion-draining season. … The Zen philosopher Alan Watts echoed the wisdom I’ve gleaned from the lake. ‘The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it and join the dance.’ ”
While Jackson gathers himself, Pacers president Larry Bird will hold a press conference Thursday to clear up the uncertain future of his esteemed head coach, Frank Vogel, whose contract is expiring. A source said no negotiations have taken place in the last 24 hours.
It is unclear if Jackson will get off his horse if Vogel becomes a free agent. It had been a well-guarded secret that Vogel’s contract was expiring. If Jackson sits out the Vogel Sweepstakes, it could demonstrate the Knicks’ coaching search is more farce than fervent. The Rockets and Kings are the other two clubs still with openings.
Passing on Vogel, as Jackson did on Tom Thibodeau, likely will create widespread bitterness among already anxious Knicks fans. The deadline to renew season tickets without a price hike is Friday.
Thursday marks three weeks since Jackson’s end-of-season press conference when he declared he would embark on a search that would include candidates he “probably knows.” Jackson first reached out for a phone interview with his preferred choice, Warriors assistant coach Luke Walton, who, as expected, ran for the Lakers job once it opened.
Jackson and general manager Steve Mills sat down with former Cavaliers coach David Blatt last week, and he’s in the running, partly because of his longstanding friendship with Mills.
Then there’s Rambis, Jackson’s friend whose presence automatically makes the Zen Master more involved, but whose 9-19 interim stint and two-season disaster as head coach with the Timberwolves haven’t inspired the fan base.
“If you’re heading into free agency with Rambis on July 1, I want to get him named and let all the noise settle down before the selling begins,” the Jackson associate said.
Vogel falls into the category of a candidate Jackson “probably knows.” The winningest coach in the Pacers’ NBA history worked one season on Jackson’s Lakers staff as an advance scout in 2006. However, Vogel told The Post he had just one conversation with Jackson the whole season.
Vogel, who has reached two Eastern Conference finals, has said he hired Brian Shaw as his associate coach in Indiana because he wanted to learn from a Jackson disciple. Shaw could either be a top candidate in Indiana if Vogel leaves (Kevin McHale and Mark Jackson are two others) or perhaps join Vogel in New York.
Vogel could be a more attractive candidate than Thibodeau, who has been on the staffs of Jeff Van Gundy with both the Knicks and Rockets. During his Knicks days, Van Gundy openly mocked Jackson’s treasured triangle offense, branding him “Big Chief Triangle.”
In doing his due diligence on Thibodeau, Jackson was put off that in his only head-coaching job, he warred with Bulls brass. It reminded Jackson too much of his days in Chicago when his feud with former Bulls GM Jerry Krause prematurely ended the dynasty at six titles. Jackson said three weeks ago he wanted a coach who is “simpatico” with the front office.
Carmelo Anthony has lobbied repeatedly for Jackson to talk to multiple candidates. Two seasons ago, Anthony praised Vogel for outwitting then-coach Mike Woodson with halftime adjustments. Last week, Anthony said, “I just want to see the proper procedure gone through, the proper process. We give everybody a shot to come in and say what they have to say and see if you like that person or not.”