Late Tuesday evening, former LA Lakers coach and current New York Knicks president Phil Jackson released a note on his Twitter account that announced the end of his longtime relationship with Lakers president and co-owner Jeanie Buss.
"With mutual love and respect, we have decided to end our engagement," the note read, before citing "geography" as a reason for the break.
"We expect to remain supportive of each other in the future," the note concluded with the joint initials of "PJ/JB."
Shortly after that initial announcement, Buss also took to Twitter, quoted Jackson's note and stated, "Nothing but love and respect for this man."
Buss also followed up with another tweet that seemed to provide an alternate reason for the breakup beyond "geography."
Buss wrote, "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."
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
Though Twitter may be an odd medium to announce these private matters, Buss and Jackson also announced their engagement via Twitter in January of 2013.
Buss was also an outspoken critic of her brother, Lakers vice-president of basketball operations Jim Buss, when the team decided to hire Mike D'Antoni only a couple months prior to the couple announcing their engagement. Jackson had previously won five NBA titles with the Lakers and had interviewed for the position. Before he could accept the vacancy, the team hired D'Antoni.
The decision had seemingly caused a rift in the Lakers' ownership group.
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In 2014, Jackson joined the New York Knicks and took over the team's front office. Jackson's role with the Knicks created a possible conflict of interest between the two presidents, but the NBA ultimately allowed Jackson to take on the new role because Jeanie Buss did not deal with basketball operations and left that department to her brother, Jim.
Jackson's professional move placed him on the opposite coast as Buss, and seemingly, ultimately led to the end of the relationship.
