New York Knicks: Ranking the 6 head coaches of the 2010s

2. Mike D’Antoni (121-167)

Based on his overall resume, Mike D’Antoni should be the New York Knicks’ top coach of the decade. There was potential for greatness, and this team had terrific offenses, but the quick results did not arrive.

D’Antoni sat through two 50-loss seasons to open his Knicks tenure. Everyone knew the organization awaited the 2010 offseason, spending two years reorganizing the roster to make Amar’e Stoudemie’s acquisition possible.

Once D’Antoni’s old superstar from Phoenix arrived, New York was finally an interesting basketball team. Depth pieces were around Stoudemire, too, making this group competitive and fun. The Carmelo Anthony trade of 2011 seemed to undo that, however, and began the steady break-up between the coach and team.

Anthony and D’Antoni never meshed, leading to an uncomfortable decision: trade Anthony or fire D’Antoni. Given the price the Knicks paid to acquire this superstar, this innovative offensive coach resigned.

Before this parting of ways, D’Antoni’s offense led to “Linsanity,” the most unlikely NBA story of the decade, when Jeremy Lin rose from no-name to star for three weeks. This system always helped point guards, but Lin’s output for that stretch was magical.

The Knicks only had one playoff series under D’Antoni. If not for the messy relationship with Anthony, they could have found more success together. Instead, it happened with the next man on the list.