The New York Knicks head coaching search has been rather unusual from typical standards. The team initially cast a very, very wide net in who they would consider a candidate, which has been met with no shortage of criticism, even from other NBA teams.
The Knicks requested permission, and were denied, to talk with five NBA teams’ head coaches. The Dallas Mavericks (Jason Kidd), Houston Rockets (Ime Udoka), Atlanta Hawks (Quin Snyder), Minnesota Timberwolves (Chris Finch), and Chicago Bulls (Billy Donovan) were all contacted by the Knicks.
The latest intel from ESPN’s Shams Charania indicates that these teams were quite unhappy with the Knicks’ odd requests to poach their coaches. With some blunt, and sometimes profane, responses mixed in.
“Teams would just hang up,” Charania said on the Rich Eisen Show. “Some would say no—and then hang up. In other situations, there was profanity involved. You know—some literal ‘F— no’ responses.”
Charania suggests that the Knicks are simply doing due diligence in terms of their search, and that the team is in no rush given the fact that they are the only team with a vacancy currently.
“To my knowledge, they are using that process as really an educational tool to see who could be available, who could [the Knicks] talk to,” Charania said.
The Knicks have scaled down their search considerably in recent days. Per The Athletic’s James L. Edwards III, the team has targeted Mike Brown and Taylor Jenkins as primary candidates, and will soon host interviews with both as they find their replacement for Tom Thibodeau.
