Report: Knicks owner using Bill Bradley to help bring Phil Jackson to New York

If there's two things that Bill Bradley knows, it's basketball and politics.

Before serving three terms as a U.S. Senator between 1979 and 1997, Bradley, a Princeton graduate, developed a reputation as one of the NBA's most intelligent players over the course of 10 seasons with the New York Knicks.

Coincidentally, his rookie year in 1967-68 coincided with Phil Jackson's rookie campaign in Manhattan, marking the beginning of a friendship between the two that continues to this day.

So, with Bradley's political experience and connection to Jackson, is it really a surprise to hear that Knicks owner James Dolan is using Bradley to help bring the Zen Master to New York's front office? It shouldn't be.

Per NY Daily News:

The Daily News has learned that Dolan has solicited the help of Bradley, Jackson’s former Knicks teammate and longtime friend, to serve as an intermediary in the club’s negotiations with the Hall of Fame coach, who is contemplating a lucrative deal to run the Knicks.

According to a person close to Jackson, Dolan and Bradley have been working together to finalize an agreement that would make Jackson the highest-paid basketball executive in NBA history.

The source claims that reports of Jackson being offered an annual salary of $12 million are erroneous and that Jackson could be looking at a deal that pays him in excess of $15 million. The person close to Jackson also indicated that the two sides have had preliminary discussions about Jackson possibly owning a minority stake in the team.

Bradley and Dolan might sound like an unlikely partnership, but since 2001, Bradley has been managing director of Allen & Company, an investment bank that holds conferences featuring business leaders, political figures, and media tycoons. Working with someone like Dolan, who has actually attended one of the firm's conferences, is nothing new for the Hall of Famer.

The two also have a history from when Bradley served as the chief outside adviser to McKinsey & Company, a management consulting firm that Dolan hired to assist the Knicks and the New York Rangers.