Mark Jackson Receives Team Ban From Knicks, Won't Call Games This Season

Mark Jackson has stepped away from a plan to call NBA games alongside former ESPN colleague Mike Breen due to Jackson being banned from traveling alongside the Knicks. Jackson had meant to call games for the MSG Network but it is now being reported that Jackson is not able to travel with the team. According to the New York Post, Jackson has been banned from traveling with the team due to a dispute dating back to his coaching days. While head coach of the Warriors, Jackson fired now-Knicks assistant coach David Erman. Apparently the rift is so great, Knicks president Leon Rose doesn't want Jackson anywhere near the team.

While Jackson could travel independently of the team, he would have to do so at his own expense. As his role with MSG was unpaid due to his ESPN buyout, Jackson declined to take that option. Instead, Wally Szerbiack will fill in the role Jackson would have taken - primarily alternate for Clyde Frazier. At this time, it's unclear if Jackson will take his broadcast talents elsewhere as a result. However, the news has been met with confusion and rampant speculation about what's really going on at MSG.

Knicks Struggle In Stacked Eastern Conference

Meanwhile, the Knicks themselves are a painfully average team to open the season. At the time of writing, they are 5-5, having fallen to the white-hot Celtics in their most recent game. That puts them dead last in the Atlantic Division and 10th in the conference standings. While the team has two 20-point shooters in Jalen Brunson and RJ Barrett, the team is being shown up by the superteams that formed elsewhere in the conference over the summer.

This is despite having the second-best defense in the league in terms of points allowed and rebounds. The problem is that having the second-best defense means very little when you have the league's third-worst scoring offense. This week, the team begins a four-game road trip, taking on Atlanta, Washington, Charlotte, and Minnesota.

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