Phil Jackson on watching Lakers blowout Knicks: 'It was awful, huh?'

Phil Jackson knew what he was getting into when he signed on as the new president of the New York Knicks, and he knows it could be an arduous road back to respectability.

What he may not have expected, however, was that he had inherited a team bad enough to lose by 31 points to a Los Angeles Lakers outfit that is 24-46. He probably also didn't expect to watch a game on Tuesday in which his new squad would give up 51 third quarter points to his former team, and, perhaps more importantly for one night, the team his fiancee runs.

"It was awful, huh," Jackson said following the game, summing the proceedings up about as succinctly as one could hope to do.

"Fifty-one points. When it’s 35 points you start to get worried. When it’s a 51-point quarter, that’s really awful."

Earlier in the day, Jackson had taken in a Knicks workout ahead of the game, though he was reportedly discreet and simply observed. He then had a super-secret chat with Carmelo Anthony, with the player being sworn to secrecy by blood oath. It seems likely that the Zen Master is trying to get a feel for the current state of the franchise, top to bottom, ahead of making some tough decisions this offseason.

It was none other than Metta World Peace joining Jackson in his luxury booth, another former Laker and now-former Knick. The imagination runs wild with potential talking points between the two, but one thing is clear: next year, this is Metta's team.