The New York Knicks are once again a major disappointment this 2016-2017 NBA season. For the past several years, the New York Knicks have not made the playoffs and with their recent loss, the New York Knicks are officially out of the playoff picture.

Many pin the blame for the New York Knicks' struggles to New York Knicks president of Basketball Operations Phil Jackson. Ever since Phil Jackson took over the job, there has been no significant improvement for the New York Knicks. One would assume that Phil Jackson may have found an ally in one of his former players, former Chicago Bulls great, Scottie Pippen. Phil Jackson and Scottie Pippen may have been allies on the court but it's a different story off the court.

During a guest appearance on ESPN's The Jump on Thursday, Scottie Pippen blames Phil Jackson for the New York Knicks' disastrous season and thinks that the New York Knicks should fire Phil Jackson after this season, according to a report from ESPN. Scottie Pippen played under Phil Jackson and won six NBA titles together with Michael Jordan.

"To be honest with you, I'm gonna have to go with my old coach Phil Jackson," Scottie Pippen said. "I just think he hasn't put the right pieces on the floor."

While Scottie Pippen puts the blame on Phil Jackson, it's a different story when it comes to New York Knicks resident superstar forward Carmelo Anthony. Scottie Pippen sided with Carmelo Anthony regarding the reduced minutes Anthony has been getting these last few games.

"I give a lot of credit to Carmelo who is being very professional in getting through these 82 game seasons," Scottie Pippen added. "And now he's being benched to some degree, they're taking a lot of his minutes away."

The fact that Scottie Pippen publicly criticizing his former coach Phil Jackson is surprising. While current and former players have been openly critical of Phil Jackson, his former players from the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers are not with Shaquille O'Neal just recently saying that the New York Knicks' players are to blame for not adapting the triangle offense, as reported by the New York Post.

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