Jeanie Buss and Phil Jackson's 17-year relationship couldn't survive one major NBA decision

J eanie Buss and Phil Jackson once appeared to have one of the strongest relationships in the NBA. Their romance survived championship runs, enormous professional pressure and the unusual dynamic of Jackson working for the franchise owned by Buss' family. But after 17 years together, one major career decision changed the relationship in ways even they apparently did not anticipate.

Buss and Jackson began dating in 1999, the same year Jackson became head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. What followed was one of the most successful periods in franchise history, with Jackson eventually winning five NBA championships with the Lakers while Buss continued rising through the organization her father, Jerry Buss, had turned into one of basketball's most recognizable franchises. The couple became engaged in 2012.

For years, they managed to keep their personal and professional lives together. But everything became considerably more complicated in March 2014 when Jackson accepted a five-year deal reportedly worth $60 million to become president of the New York Knicks.

The job placed Jackson in New York while Buss remained deeply committed to the Lakers in Los Angeles. Suddenly, a relationship that had largely existed around the same organization had to survive not only thousands of miles of separation, but two NBA franchises with potentially competing interests.

The NBA created another unusual obstacle for Jeanie Buss and Phil Jackson

Distance wasn't their only problem.

Jackson's arrival in New York created an obvious potential conflict of interest for the NBA. Buss held a major leadership position with the Lakers while her fiancé was now running basketball operations for the Knicks.

NBA spokesman Mike Bass confirmed in 2014 that the league had established parameters surrounding their relationship to avoid even the appearance that it could influence the operations of either franchise.

The restrictions reportedly went much further than simply keeping the two executives out of official negotiations.

ESPN later reported that because of the league's conflict-of-interest concerns, Buss and Jackson couldn't discuss matters involving their respective teams. That meant two people whose lives had revolved around basketball for decades suddenly had to carefully separate one of the biggest parts of their professional lives from their private relationship.

It created an extraordinary situation: Buss and Jackson could remain engaged, but the very sport that had brought their lives together had become something they had to keep apart.

Jeanie Buss encouraged Jackson to take the Knicks job

What makes the story even more striking is that Buss initially supported Jackson's return to basketball.

When the Knicks opportunity emerged, Buss publicly acknowledged that Jackson wanted to work again. She described him as too talented a basketball mind to simply remain at home and encouraged his professional ambitions.

At the time, Buss also expressed confidence that the potential conflict could be managed. She had discussed the situation with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and noted that she wasn't responsible for the Lakers' basketball decisions, which at the time were handled by her brother Jim Buss and general manager Mitch Kupchak.

But there was another revealing comment from Buss that showed just how different their respective relationships with basketball had become.

"The Lakers are my life," she said in 2014.

Jackson's position with New York, she explained, was ultimately a job that would have a beginning and an end. The Lakers, by contrast, were part of her family and something she expected to remain connected to forever.

That difference would become increasingly significant.

The distance became harder than either expected

Jackson and Buss had already experienced periods apart during their relationship, particularly because of the constant travel required of an NBA head coach.

But Los Angeles and New York presented something different.

ESPN reported that the long-distance arrangement placed considerably more strain on the relationship than either Buss or Jackson had anticipated. The conflict-of-interest restrictions only made the separation more complicated because basketball an enormous part of both of their lives couldn't simply become their shared language at the end of the day.

The relationship therefore faced pressure from several directions at once: geographic separation, demanding executive positions, loyalty to two different franchises and NBA rules designed to prevent sensitive information from passing between them.

Eventually, it became too much. After 17 years, Buss and Jackson called off their engagement On December 27.