Phil Jackson tweeted a bizarre, 400-word thesis about ‘self-actualization’ and what he looks for in his basketball teams

Seth Wenig/AP

Nobody has ever accused Phil Jackson of not being a thinker.

On Tuesday, the day after Jackson and the Knicks made the shocking decision to fire Derek Fisher as head coach, Jackson took to Twitter to elaborate on his basketball and life principles.

The result was a screenshot of a 400-word rambling explanation about Jackson’s philosophical beliefs, self-actualization, organizational and managerial success, and lastly, what he looks for in a basketball team.

Here’s the tweet:

As I know nothing about philosophy, I won’t attempt to dive into Jackson’s discourse there.

From a basketball standpoint — important, because the Knicks will likely be in the market for a new head coach this summer — here are some highlights:

• “There should be a system of play that includes the group.”
• “How that is done can include using the triangle system of basketball but doesn’t exclude other systems that include group play.”
• The seven principles of offense are as good as “any standard of measurement” he knows.
• “Being able to play in any group is a joyful experience be it drama, music or sports.”
• Teams that have the most people playing together are the most successful teams, and that’s the goal for the Knicks.

This still doesn’t answer many questions besides for what most people already know — Jackson’s preferred method of offense is the triangle offense. One of the reasons for Fisher’s firing was reportedly his forays into other offensive styles. In today’s NBA, where some of the principles of the triangle seem outdated, there’s been much hand-wringing over the Knicks’ next coach, and whether he can install some more modern principles into the Knicks’ offense. Jackson may be open to it to a degree, but he doesn’t seem too flexible or open for exploring.

The biggest takeaway from Jackson’s message is that things will almost certainly be done his way as long as he’s president of the Knicks.