The NBA has parameters in place to ensure the relationship between Lakers president Jeanie Buss and now-Knicks president Phil Jackson doesn’t become an issue, reports Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com. NBA spokesman Mike Bass told Shelburne the following: “The Knicks’ hiring of Phil Jackson is subject to the league’s conflict of interest rules. To avoid even the appearance of a conflict, we have addressed the issue with the Knicks and Lakers to ensure that the relationship between Jeanie Buss and Phil Jackson will not affect how the teams operate.”
We heard yesterday that Buss recently met with NBA commissioner Adam Silver on this very topic. Shelburne followed up on Twitter, adding that Buss and Silver had similar conversations last year when Jackson considered working for Toronto or a new Seattle franchise. In short, because Buss’ role with the Lakers is on the business side, the league approves, Shelburne says, an explanation that agrees with what we heard from Buss earlier today.
Let’s take a look at what else is going on out west:
- In an interview with Zach Lowe of Grantland, Goran Dragic conceded that he was baffled this offseason when he heard the Suns acquired Eric Bledsoe, but his agent and Suns’ management swiftly assured him that the team envisioned an all-point guard backcourt not unlike the early ’90s Phoenix duo of Kevin Johnson and (current head coach) Jeff Hornacek.
- Two seasons after shipping him to Toronto, Daryl Morey unsuccessfully attempted to bring Kyle Lowry back to the Rockets at the trade deadline, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. The Villanova product, who also nearly ended up in New York, is playing his way into a big-time contract this summer, when Lowry becomes a free agent. We heard earlier tonight that he could be a fit in Dallas.
- A lot of the credit for DeAndre Jordan‘s progression with the Clippers should go to Doc Rivers, writes Chris Ballard of Sports Illustrated. Rivers, in his first year with the Clips, did his homework on the talented but underacheiving center prior to arriving in Los Angeles, and the results have been more than encouraging.