New York Knicks: Five worst coaches in team history

As the New York Knicks embark on yet another coaching search, who are the five worst coaches in team history?

The New York Knicks are currently searching for their seventh coach in seven years. From Mike Woodson to Derek Fisher to Kurt Rambis to Jeff Hornacek to David Fizdale to Mike Miller to whoever new president Leon Rose decides needs to replace Miller, there have been several bench chiefs, some on interim basis, others on long-term contracts, but none able to survive more than two seasons at Madison Square Garden.

The days of Red Holzman are long gone.

What’s interesting about the Knicks, if you look at their coaching history prior to James Dolan becoming owner, there aren’t a lot of coaches who jump out at you as epic failures.

Following Holzman, Hubie Brown led a young Knicks team in the early eighties that ran into injuries before his dismissal; and then Rick Pitino brought an exciting style of play to the Garden, with Stu Jackson and John MacLeod bridging a small gap to Pat Riley; and then Don Nelson led to Jeff Van Gundy.

Don Nelson’s tenure with the Knicks lasted only 59 games, and he reportedly tried to trade the franchise, Patrick Ewing, but his record was still 34-25 with a team that finished 13-10 once Jeff Van Gundy took over and lost in the second round of the playoffs as they had a tendency to do in those years. Nelson was more of the wrong fit than a bad coach. The team was used to playing a certain tempo under Pat Riley, and Nelson wanted to play at a completely different speed.

Before we get into the list, I want to note that these coaches are judged strictly on their performance in New York. This is not a ranking of who is the worst coach in terms of ability or career achievements, but rather, who performed the worst while leading the Knicks.