Why does Phil Jackson keep poking Carmelo Anthony?

NEW YORK -- It was the signature move of Phil Jackson’s tenure.

Not the bungled coaching hires. Not the trades gone wrong or the free agent chases that have produced mixed results, at best. No, for Jackson, the one move he made since taking over as Knicks president that is hard to criticize was when he grabbed Carmelo Anthony out of the clutches of potential suitors and kept the team’s star in place.

Anthony was the one constant, the only player left from the roster that Jackson inherited in March of 2014. Through the rebuilding efforts, the Twitter bungles and inept assessments of his team - and others - Jackson could claim that he secured a star for Madison Square Garden.

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Remember those heady days when both Garden chairman James Dolan and the star player, Anthony, were mouthing, “Believe in Phil,” willing to stake the future of the franchise on the planning of the Zen Master?

So why has it seemed almost from the time that Jackson got Anthony to sign on to the five-year contract - bolstered by one of the few no-trade clauses among NBA players - that Jackson has been trying to get Anthony to walk away?

With the team on a four-game winning streak, Jackson decided to break his silence and go on television - with part of the appearance a half-hearted apology for his last interview in which he poked at LeBron James. And when he was done he tweaked Anthony - who already had taken James’ side in the last dust-up.

“Carmelo a lot of times, wants to hold the ball longer than (the Knicks want),” Jackson said. “We have a rule, if you hold a pass two seconds, you benefit the defense. So he has a little bit of a tendency to hold it for three, four, five seconds, and then everybody comes to a stop and that is one of the things we work with.”

After the one-sided loss that came - maybe from a simple talent disparity and maybe from James coming in breathing fire with revenge on his mind - Anthony was asked about Jackson’s comment and in a rare show of displeasure he nearly walked out on the interview session, “Oh come on, man,” he said. “I’m gone, man. Thank you. Sorry man. I don’t want to answer those questions.”

When pressed he simply said, “I don’t even know what was said to be honest with you. I just don’t even want to talk about that, what he’s talking about exactly. I want to stay away from that at this point. My focus is my teammates and winning. We’ve been playing great basketball and that’s the only thing I’m focused on. Whatever Phil said he said it. I have nothing to say about that.”

Remember back, before the 17-win season, before the first free agent class was discarded for the current win-now approach, when Anthony was heading on a recruiting tour, wooed by teams that could have moved him closer to the championship ring which has eluded him. And remember what Jackson said before the negotiations began, hopeful that he could use his powers of persuasion to convince Anthony to leave money on the table to aid the rebuild.

“I’m all about moving forward,” Jackson said. “Just deal with what is and move forward. If it’s in the cards, man, are we fortunate. If it’s not in the cards, man, are we fortunate. We’re going forward, anyway.”

It sounded good that day, a bold approach from this heralded leader. But when Anthony was finishing up his recruiting tour, Jackson flew out to Los Angeles and blinked, afraid of losing the star already in house, and made a deal - Anthony leaving crumbs on table and signing a five-year, $124 million deal rather than the $129 he could have gotten, but getting the no-trade clause in exchange, which made him a more powerful force in the organization than Jackson.

Now Jackson continues to tilt at windmills, fighting battles on Twitter or in rare interviews with anyone he sees as an impediment to his reputation as a basketball genius. He still tries to pin the 11 championship rings he won as a coach on the triangle offense (which he didn’t invent and which was implemented for him by Tex Winter) rather than the stars who carried the day. So Anthony hears about the triangle until he can’t bear to hear it anymore and still, the slights come, snide comments about Anthony’s style of play.

These latest ones came with the team not only winning four in a row and reaching a high point of Jackson’s tenure in New York - a low bar for sure, but still - but also with Anthony having carried the team to a win in Miami on Tuesday with 35 points after hitting game-winning shots twice in the last two weeks.

It’s hard to understand why Jackson pokes at Anthony, just as it’s hard to understand why he still wars with Pat Riley or Gregg Popovich, why he would say anything about LeBron James’ business associates who are quickly becoming power brokers in the NBA, or why he’d talk about a player’s contract like Mike Conley Jr.

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The comments serve only to diminish his reputation, make players wonder why they’d join him in his quest. Chris Paul is a free agent after this season and a close friend of Anthony and James, the trio still dreaming of a day they can unite on one team before they’re done. But in New York? Each tweak makes it a little less likely.

Jackson can’t control those decisions. The only one who can control where he goes and when is Anthony, who will be the last man standing in New York as long as he wants to be here.

Email: popper@northjersey.com