Ranking the 4 worst coaching hires in New York Knicks history
1. Isiah Thomas
It’s hard to really call this a “Knicks” hiring, considering that Isiah Thomas, the team’s general manager at the time, decided that it would somehow be a smart idea for him to also be the head coach. If you thought he was a bad manager, just wait until you learn about how horrid of a head coach he was.
Thomas decided to hire himself as head coach after his smart decision to hire the aforementioned Larry Brown as the highest-paid coach in league history just to fire him one season in. Brown wasn’t a genius by any means, but he was much better than anything Thomas gave the Knicks.
The two seasons Thomas spent as the team’s head coach were just atrocious, as the team went 56-108 in that period. These rosters were very similar to the one Brown was given until at least Thomas eventually traded most of the young core for little to nothing. For example, Thomas traded Trevor Ariza for Steve Francis despite already having a star point guard, then, after the move didn’t work out, he shipped Francis and Channing Frye off to Portland the next season.
That’s two very good young players gone within two seasons because Thomas was that awful of a manager. Honestly, these Knicks teams had too much talent for how bad they actually ended up being. Obviously, things go much deeper than what is on paper, however, Thomas wasn’t doing the Knicks any favors.
