Knicks are undergoing mindfulness training before the season

New York Knicks president Phil Jackson is already living up to his "Zen Master" nickname in his role as team president, installing a mandatory mindfulness training regimen before the season starts.

New York Knicks' Phil Jackson is already living up to his "Zen Master" nickname in his role as team president, installing a mandatory mindfulness training regimen before the season starts.

The 11-time championship coach spoke with writer Ben McGrath as part of TheNew Yorker Festival and talked about the importance of the technique in basketball, according to ESPN.

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"There's a mindfulness training program that's very logical and very calm, quiet, and we've started the process with this team, and [first-year head coach] Derek [Fisher is] all for it. He's a proponent of it," Jackson said Sunday. "And yet I think that it's kind of what I am inserting in here as part of what I think has to happen because I know what effect it [has]. I think it's very difficult sometimes for a coach to do this because it's so anti what we are as athletes."

Jackson continued to say that the practice will help players eliminate distractions like bad calls during games.

- Brendan Maloy