Coaching rumors should always be taken with a grain of salt, especially when talking about one of the franchises in a league in such a high-profile market like New York. With the New York Knicks looking for a new head coach, general manager Phil Jackson reportedly only has one man in mind for the job. Kurt Rambis.
Rambis, of course, finished the season as the interim head coach of the Knicks following the firing of Derek Fisher in early February. In the 28 games coached by Rambis, the Knicks went 9-19 and finished in third place in the Atlantic Division. The Knicks were a hot mess anyway, so there was likely not too much Rambis could have done to improve the results in the win column, although the season started with a 22-22 record before the Fisher-led Knicks dropped nine of 10 to lead to the coaching change. The stint as interim head coach may have been enough for Jackson to get enough of a feel for what he has in Rambis.
The news Rambis is the only candidate on the short list for Jackson comes from Peter Vecsey, via Twitter, stating former Cleveland head coach David Blatt is not being considered for the Knicks job. The question Jackson may need to answer is why the delay in naming Rambis the full-time head coach if he is indeed the only guy for the job? Waiting for a break in the NBA Playoffs? Maybe there is no urgency to name a head coach the way there is in college, where recruiting is key, but the longer this drags out the more you have to wonder if Jackson could potentially be hesitating on Rambis for some reason.
So if you're scoring, we're supposed to believe that every coach underperformed except for Phil's guys, Kurt Rambis & Jim Cleamons.
— Frank Isola (@TheFrankIsola) April 23, 2016
It is worth noting here that Rambis was previously an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Lakers under Jackson. It is also entirely fair to suggest sometimes Jackson has made some questionable decisions regarding the Knicks since taking on the GM role. Maybe Rambis is a good enough option for the Knicks. Maybe other potential targets will be blocked from being considered. Or maybe Jackson’s time as general manager should be coming under fire, if it has not already.
Well, actually, looks like he is not pleasing the fans…
Sorry @PhilJackson11 there is no way on Earth you can have my support in FT, hire of Kurt Rambis! You had me at hello and lost me at Rambis!
— Jim (@NYGreenMachine) April 24, 2016
Let me be very clear about this. If Kurt Rambis gets hired full time, we tear down MSG and put heads on spikes https://t.co/WYxGgWAGzF
— Clem (@TheClemReport) April 24, 2016
