Phil Jackson and Jeanie Buss end engagement, citing long distance relationship strugg

[admin]

Phil Jackson and Jeanie Buss were engaged in late 2012. (Getty Images) New York Knicks president Phil Jackson and Los Angeles Lakers president of business operations Jeanie Buss have ended their engagement. The couple, which had been together for over 16 years, announced news of their upcoming wedding nearly four years ago. It seems as if the professional distance between the two got in the way of sustaining their relationship.
[Join a Yahoo Daily Fantasy Basketball contest now | Free NBA Yahoo Cup entry]
[Follow Ball Don’t Lie on social media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Tumblr]
Late Tuesday evening, Jackson released this on Twitter:

pic.twitter.com/2V2JUEfWLb
— Phil Jackson (@PhilJackson11) December 28, 2016
​

Minutes later, Buss added her own thoughts:

Nothing but love and respect for this man. @PhilJackson11 https://t.co/jlgNhnZvOA
— Jeanie Buss (@JeanieBuss) December 28, 2016
​

The love of my life is the Los Angeles Lakers. I love Phil & will always. It's not fair to him or Lakers to not have my undivided attention
— Jeanie Buss (@JeanieBuss) December 28, 2016
​

The two became a couple when Jackson, newly-divorced from his longtime wife June, was hired to coach the Los Angeles in 1999. Jeanie, the daughter of Lakers owner Jim Buss, was executive vice president of the team at the time, following a lengthy career as an executive for several Los Angeles-based sports franchises. Married briefly in the early 1990s, Buss is ten years Jackson’s junior.
The two remained an item throughout Jackson’s first run coaching the Lakers, which resulted in three NBA championships. Phil and the Lakers parted ways in 2004 after a trying season, one that the coach cashed in on with the writing of the controversial ‘The Last Season,’ but his separation from the team only lasted for one season prior to the Buss family hiring him again in 2005 to coach the squad. That pairing lasted for seven seasons, resulting in two more championships for the franchise.
[ | Mock Draft | The Vertical | Latest news]
[Follow Dunks Don’t Lie on Tumblr: The best slams from all of basketball]
Phil Jackson was very nearly hired again in 2012 after a year and a half away from the team prior to basketball president Jim Buss’ decision to go with veteran coach Mike D’Antoni, much to the consternation of Jeannie – who later characterized the slight as a “betrayal.” She continued to run the Lakers and work with Jim, her brother, even after Jackson joined the Knicks as president in 2014.
Rumors abounded that Phil, with a contract opt-out scheduled for 2017, would eventually work his way back to Los Angeles to take on a role as team basketball president – the job that Jim Buss currently holds, clasped with a rather tenuous hold. With both the Lakers and Knicks playing surprisingly solid (if not serene) basketball this season, those rumors took a backseat as the 2016-17 season moved along.
With Jeanie Buss handling the business side of dealings in the Laker organization, and Jackson focused on the smaller task of cobbling together a front office, coaching staff and basketball team, the two were able to work without noted conflict of interest – though that didn’t stop the NBA from looking in to ways to keep the Lakers and Knicks from taking advantage of their shared power couple:

“The Knicks’ hiring of Phil Jackson is subject to the league’s conflict of interest rules,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass told ESPN.com. “To avoid even the appearance of a conflict, we have addressed the issue with the Knicks and Lakers to ensure that the relationship between Jeanie Buss and Phil Jackson will not affect how the teams operate.”
​

Hard to ever know about someone else's relationship. But from what I hear the Phil/Jeanie breakup really is just difficulties with distance
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) December 28, 2016
​

From what I understand, this wasn't some sudden thing. Just a long, growing apart where distance got too far and priorities too different.
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) December 28, 2016
​

And when you can't be together, it doesn't help when you're not allowed to talk business by rules the NBA put in place on their relationship
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) December 28, 2016
​

We wish the best for both parties as they move forward, as a very public life together (be it together as Lakers, or otherwise) could not have been easy.

– – – – – – –​

Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
Follow @KDonhoops