We’ve ‘enjoyed’ more than enough football talk over the past several months, and continue to do so as Deflate-Gate dominates American news headlines in advance of the Super Bowl. It’s only natural that the gridiron’s “scandal” would finally crossover to the hardwood. In an interview from 1986 recently unearthed by Todd Radom, Phil Jackson admits that his championship New York Knicks squads strategically deflated basketballs to gain a competitive advantage.
Sam Smith published the story for the Chicago Tribune. Here’s a shot of the article in question with a transcription of the pertinent portions below it:
Phil Jackson, quoted in 1986, saying that championship New York Knicks teams intentionally deflated basketballs: pic.twitter.com/wJqAnC6fRQ
— Todd Radom (@ToddRadom) January 28, 2015
And then there were the New York Knicks of the early 1970s, a team that had Willis Reed, Dave DeBusschere, Jerry Lucas, Bill Bradley, Walt Frazier, and Dick Barnett and that represented for many the apotheosis of the game.
They simply took the air out of the ball…
“What we used to do was deflate the ball,” recalls Phil Jackson, the cerebral reserve forward who was every bit as metaphysical as he was physical.
“We were a short term with our big guys like Willis, our center, only about 6-8 and Jerry Lucas also 6-8. DeBusschere, 6-6. So what we had to rely on was boxing out and hoping the rebound didn’t go long.
“To help ensure that, we’d try to take some air out of the ball. You see, on the ball it says something like ‘inflate to 7 to 9 pounds.’ We’d all carry pins and take the air out to deaden the ball.
“It also helped our offense because we were a team that liked to pass the ball without dribbling it, so it didn’t matter how much air was in the ball. It also kept other teams from running on us because when they’d dribble the ball, it wouldn’t come up so fast.
Wait…
You’re telling us that “Zen” alone didn’t account for Jackson’s playing championships? How can we be sure, then, that his Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers didn’t utilize a similar tactic?! Answer: We absolutely cannot. Conspiracy? We certainly can’t rule it out – remember the “Frozen Envelope?” The Knicks sure do. Just sayin’…
The Super Bowl is on Sunday at 6:30 EST. The Zen Master’s Knicks take-on the Kevin Durant-less Oklahoma City Thunder tonight.
What do you think?
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