The New York Knicks are expected to interview former Nets coach Kenny Atkinson for their head coaching position.
Former Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson will likely be interviewed for the New York Knicks head coaching position, according to The Athletic.
Atkinson was an assistant coach with the Knicks from 2008-2012, joining the staff when Mike D’Antoni was hired as head coach. Atkinson would later work under Mike Budenholzer, a previous Knicks coaching candidate, before getting the job in Brooklyn.
When Atkinson took over coaching duties in Brooklyn, they were a 21-win team stripped of several first round draft picks from a trade with the Boston Celtics. In three year’s time, the Northport native turned Brooklyn into a competitive team, winning 42 games in 2018-19, the season leading up to the summer when they robbed the Knicks of free agent superstars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
It was a shock to the league when Atkinson was let go by the Nets during the 2019-20 season after a 28-34 start, exasperated by injuries.
Tom Thibodeau a top candidate for New York Knicks job.
After making several hires in his new front office, Knicks president Leon Rose is expected to finalize a coaching decision in the next few weeks, with another former Knicks assistant Tom Thibodeau as the top candidate for the job, according to The Athletic.
SNY later confirmed that Thibodeau, along with Atkinson and Miller would be considered for New York’s head coaching position. It is unclear who else might be interviewed.
Interim coach Mike Miller will coach the team if the NBA forces the Knicks to return to play this season. While he will get an interview for the full-time job, it seems most likely he will be re-assigned to a new coaching role, if he remains with the team.
The Knicks are in search of their seventh head coach in seven seasons. They fired David Fizdale before he reached the midway point of his second season on the job. He was hired in 2018 by former President Steve Mills and current general manager Scott Perry to a five-year, multi-million dollar contract.