Phil Jackson: LeBron James Might Travel ‘Every Other Time He Catches the Basketball’

Phil Jackson has certainly not been quiet this offseason. The President of the New York Knicks recently graced headlines due to some rather strange comments made during an interview with the New York Times. Now, he’s back with more controversial statements.

The legendary head coach-turned-Knicks-front-office-exec took shots at the way the game of basketball is currently played, directly referencing LeBron James in the process.

Here are Jackson’s comments, via Howard Beck of Bleacher Report:

“I watch LeBron James, for example,” he said. “He might [travel] every other time he catches the basketball if he’s off the ball. He catches the ball, moves both his feet. You see it happen all the time. There’s no structure, there’s no discipline, there’s no ‘How do we play this game’ type of attitude. And it goes all the way through the game. To the point where now guys don’t screen—they push guys off with their hands.”

 

He concluded: “It struck me: How can we get so far away from the real truth of what we’re trying to do? And if you give people structure, just like a jazz musician—he’s gotta learn melody, and he’s gotta learn the basic parts of music—and then he can learn how to improvise. And that’s basically what team play is all about.”