Phil Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy meet again, going on five years after Jackson interviewed for Van Gundy's job, creating a memorable uproar during the playoffs for both the coach and his team, the New York Knicks.

It was Van Gundy, as coach of the Knicks, who first called Jackson "Big Chief Triangle" and Van Gundy who admitted to being obsessed with beating Jackson's almighty Chicago Bulls in the late '90s.

But the event that linked them in recent New York basketball history came during the second round of the 1999 playoffs, when the New York Times broke the story that Jackson had met that week with Dave Checketts, then president of the Knicks, at a Manhattan hotel. The reason for the meeting: to talk about Jackson's replacing Van Gundy as coach of the Knicks.

Van Gundy was without a guaranteed contract for 1999-2000 and at that moment was trying to beat the Atlanta Hawks in a series that, according to the New York papers, had the potential to save his job.

Van Gundy and the Knicks won that series in a sweep and then won another, advancing to the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs, and the Knicks rewarded Van Gundy with a contract extension.

A couple of months later, Jackson came out of retirement to coach the Lakers.