Mark Jackson Says He Turned Down Knicks Broadcast Job After Reported Dismissal

The former New York Knicks player and longtime broadcaster said he turned the job down over a week ago.

Mark Jackson took to Instagram on Wednesday to dismiss a report from the New York Post that he lost out on a broadcasting job with the Knicks because the franchise objected to him being on the team’s chartered jet. 

“Today, a report came out that I was fired or dismissed from calling Knicks games,” Jackson said. “Honored and privileged to have an offer bestowed upon me to back up the legend Walt Clyde Frazier calling Knick games. Over a week ago, I turned that job down. You heard what I said: More than a week ago, I turned the job down due to the fact that it wasn’t the ideal conditions, and it wasn’t the ideal time for me. 

Mark Jackson on IG: "Come on man. Come on. At some point, the lies have got to stop. The lies have got to stop.

"I've sat back year after year after year, listening to lies, questioning me as a man and my integrity for what I stand for, what I was raised on That's been… pic.twitter.com/g44oQJIhZg

— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) November 16, 2023

“You never know what the future holds,” he continued. “They say once a Knick, always a Knick, I bleed a side of me blue and orange. I dreamt of playing for the Knicks. I dreamt of calling games for the Knicks. It would’ve been a dream accomplished, but it just didn’t work out. 

“I give the reporter credit, four calls yesterday from reporters trying to get a quote from me. I did not respond because I don’t play that game. I let it alone thinking that it’ll die and nobody will know what happened. But over a week ago, I turned the job down.”

Longtime broadcaster and former New York Knicks guard Mark Jackson says he turned down a broadcasting opportunity with the team and was not dismissed from the role :: Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports

It’s worth noting that the Post’s Andrew Marchand wrote that Jackson did not respond to messages seeking comment in the initial report. The Knicks also declined to comment. 

In the initial report, Marchand wrote that MSG Networks planned to hire Jackson as a backup analyst to Walt Frazier this season when the NBA legend would have nights off, but Knicks management, led by team president Leon Rose, rescinded the offer because of bad blood between Jackson and current Knicks assistant coach Darren Erman. 

In 2014, Erman, who was a part of Jackson’s staff with the Warriors, was fired over a “violation of company policy.” ESPN later reported that Erman secretly recorded conversations of meetings involving coaches, including coaches-only meetings and meetings between coaches and players.