Phil Jackson, Jeanie Buss say they have ended engagement

FILE – In this April 2, 2013 file photo, Jeanie Buss, left, Los Angeles Lakers executive vice president of business operations, and former Lakers head coach Phil Jackson sit during the first half of their NBA basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks, in Los Angeles. New York Knicks President Jackson and Lakers executive Buss have ended their engagement. Jackson tweeted a statement Tuesday night, Dec. 27, 2016, in which the couple said because of their professional obligations and geographic distance, “sustaining the relationship has been difficult.” AP

NEW YORK — New York Knicks President Phil Jackson and Lakers executive Jeanie Buss have ended their engagement.

Jackson tweeted a statement Tuesday night in which the couple said because of their professional obligations and geographic distance, “sustaining the relationship has been difficult.” They added that they had shared wonderful moments and “expect to remain supportive of each other in the future.”

Buss, the Lakers’ executive vice president, later tweeted that she would always love Jackson but that the Lakers were the love of her life and “it’s not fair to him or Lakers to not have my undivided attention.”

Jackson and Buss began dating in 1999 while he coached the Lakers and were engaged before he moved across the country to take the Knicks job in 2014. Buss not only encouraged him to take the position but also to coach the team, though Jackson said he knew he wasn’t physically up to that.