"Relationship with Carmelo is Kind of Busted" - Phil Jackson Does Not Mince Words About Carmelo Anthony's Negative Impact on Knicks

Phil Jackson made shocking revelation about his failed realtionship with Carmelo Anthony and blamed him for negatively impact the New York Knicks. Jackson brought hope in New York when Knicks hired him as the president. However, controversy quickly surrounded the franchise when friction between him and Anthony became public.

In his upcoming book, "Masters of the Game: A Conversational History of the NBA in 75 Legendary Players," Jackson detailed the reason behind his busted relationship with Melo. Jackson said that he wanted the team to implement triangle offense and ball movement. However, then-Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek told Jackson that Anthony wanted ball in his hand.

Defending his position, Jackson also detailed his conversation with former Denver Nuggets coach George Karl, who coached Melo in Denver. Jackson wrote that karl told him that Anthony wanted to be the top scorer in the 2009 Western Conference finals against Kobe Bryant's Lakers.

"[Karl said] 'Kobe’s going to get his 30 points and we'll deal with that; shut down everybody else.' Carmelo interjected, 'No, I disagree with that. We've got to defend Kobe first. We've got to throw everything at him,'" Jackson wrote. "'You know why?’' George asked. '[Carmelo] said he wanted to be the top scorer.'"

Melo has often been blamed for ruining the careers of his Knicks teammate Jeremy Lin and former coach Mike D'Antoni.

"After being with Carmelo in New York, I knew," Jackson wrote confirming his stance on the blame.

Jackson also said that in his conversation with Knicks owner James Dolan, he said that with his broken relationship with Anthony, one had to leave. Jackson revealed that he told Dolan that it was best if he himself left.

In June 2017, Phil Jackson left the Knicks because the Knicks didn't buy out Carmelo Anthony, who had refused to waive his no trade clause in his contract. Months later, in Sep. 2017, Anthony also left to join the OKC Thunder in a trade.

Phil Jackson reveals the stunning reason behind his broken engagement with Jeanie Buss

Phil Jackson and then LA Lakers owner Jeanie Buss got engaged in 2012. A year later, the legandary NBA coach joined the New York Knicks as the president of the team. Two years later, Jackson and Buss stunned the league with their separation announcement.

In their joint statement, the former couple said that they were parting ways becuase of the "geographical distance." In his book, Jackson also detailed about his conversation with Buss about the time he was offered the job.

"I warned her, 'I don’t think our relationship can survive this. I'm not going to take this job,'" he wrote in the book.

Jackson further revealed that although Buss reassured her about their relationship, he added another big reason that ended their engagement.

"'No, don't worry about it, we're going to be fine.' But she got pressure from the league because they worried about the idea of collusion that could happen between an owner and a president."

Phil Jackson had signed a $60 million contract with the Knicks in 2014 to head their front office.