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Ranking the 4 worst coaching hires in New York Knicks history

By Desmond Novack

New York Knicks new head coach Larry Brown, and team president Isiah Thomas (Photo by Daniel J. Barry/Getty Images)
New York Knicks new head coach Larry Brown, and team president Isiah Thomas (Photo by Daniel J. Barry/Getty Images) /
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Larry Brown, New York Knicks. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Larry Brown, New York Knicks. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

2. Larry Brown

Coming off the heels of one of the biggest underdog wins in sports history, and an Eastern Conference Finals appearance in back-to-back years, the Pistons decided to let Larry Brown go in 2005 due to his “antics.” Knowing this, the Knicks decided that it would be a great idea to hire him entering the 2005-06 season.

While the Knicks’ roster at the time clearly wasn’t ready to contend, GM Isiah Thomas for some reason thought they were. Not only did he make a plethora of awful signings and trades, but hired a big-time coach with personal problems. Surely nothing could go wrong, right?

The Knicks were armed with players like Stephon Marbury, Jamal Crawford, Eddy Curry, Quentin Richardson, Jalen Rose, and the list goes on. Not only did they have solid veterans, but the young core this team had was pretty great at the time. Names like Channing Frye, Matt Barnes, Trevor Ariza, Nate Robinson, and David Lee all had less than three years under their belt.

Despite all of the talent this team had on paper, Brown simply couldn’t make it work, winning just 23 games. In addition to the team playing poorly, Brown had several public feuds with his own players. As if things couldn’t get any worse, when hired by the Knicks, Thomas made Brown the highest-paid coach in NBA history.

Even with that in mind, the Knicks decided to fire Brown after the 2005-06 season and would initially refuse to pay him the sum he was owed. However, when Brown went to the league with this, the Knicks decided to pay him part of what he was owed. Yet another genius decision made by Thomas during his time as the Knicks GM.