At left, in a June 13, 1997, file photo, Chicago Bulls coach Phil Jackson hoists the NBA Championship trophy aloft after the Bulls beat the Utah Jazz 90-86 in Game 6 of the NBA Finals. in Chicago. At center, in a June 21, 2000 file photo, Los Angeles Lakers head coach Phil Jackson waves to the crowd as the Lakers and thousands of their fans celebrate their NBA Championship in downtown Los Angeles. At right, in a June 16, 1996 file photo, Chicago Bulls coach Phil Jackson hoists the NBA championship trophy after the Bulls beat Seattle in Game 6 of the NBA Finals in Chicago. Carmelo Anthony says he has heard that 11-time NBA champion coach Phil Jackson will be "coming on board" in a leadership capacity with the New York Knicks, though cautioned that nothing is yet official. Anthony made the comments Wednesday, March 12, 2014, to reporters in Boston, where the Knicks are playing the Celtics.

Carmelo Anthony said Wednesday that he has heard Phil Jackson will be “coming on board” with the New York Knicks, the strongest indication yet that the 11-time NBA champion coach will soon be taking over the team's basketball operations.

Anthony went as far as to suggest that it's no longer a question of if Jackson will rejoin the Knicks, but when.

“Everything's in his hands now,” Anthony told reporters in Boston at the Knicks' gameday shootaround practice.

Neither the Knicks nor Jackson had any immediate comment. Jackson played on the Knicks' last championship team in 1973, and later went on to win six NBA titles as a coach with the Chicago Bulls and five more with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Jackson, 68, has said in the past that teams have tried to lure him back to the NBA, and there has been speculation for several days that this offer from the Knicks would be good enough to get him to interrupt retirement. Jackson has been out of the league and largely out of the public eye since 2011, when he ended his coaching stint with the Lakers.

“I still don't have a lot of the details, all the details,” Anthony told reporters. “Have I heard? Yeah, I've heard that he will be coming on board. It's not official yet. You can always use Phil Jackson's insight on whatever ... his philosophy, his mindset, his resume, what he brings to the game, what he brings to a team or organization. That goes without even saying, so we'll see how that plays out.”

Anthony said he hasn't spoken with Jackson about his plans for the Knicks. If this deal becomes official, that will likely change quickly, since Anthony could leave this summer as a free agent.

Anthony said the Knicks told him about their pursuit of Jackson over the last couple days. He gave no indication if Jackson's potential involvement with the Knicks would affect his free-agency plans.

“It wasn't something that was do-or-die based on my decision,” Anthony said. “Them guys was going to make that decision regardless of what I said.”

Ever since Jackson last coached, there has been a certain amount of guessing about when he would return to the league — or if any offer really could get him to leave Montana, where he's spent much of retirement.

He didn't exactly slam the door shut in 2012, telling HBO's “Real Sports” that “there might be” a job that would bring him back to the game.