The New York Knicks have finally landed some interviews for their vacant head coaching position.
After trying and failing to interview some of the top employed coaches around the NBA, the Knicks have pivoted to free agents and are set to meet with Taylor Jenkins and Mike Brown for their opening, ESPN Shams Charania reported Friday.
The team is set to meet with the two free-agent head coaches next week, according to Charania.
Both coaches were fired from their respective teams this past season. Jenkins was previously with the Memphis Grizzlies but was fired with weeks to go in the regular season, while Brown was let go by the Sacramento Kings 31 games into the season and replaced by Doug Christie.
According to a previous report from Sam Amick of The Athletic, Brown left a strong impression on the Knicks when he interviewed for their vacant position back in 2020, before they hired Tom Thibodeau.
Since then, Brown won an NBA title with the Golden State Warriors as an assistant and spent parts of three seasons in Sacramento, taking them to the playoffs for the first time in 16 seasons in 2023. He had a 107-88 record in the California capital.
Jenkins, meanwhile, got his start as a head coach with the Grizzlies, spending parts of six seasons with the team. He had a 250-214 record in that time and brought them to the playoffs in three seasons. He was fired with nine games left to go in the regular season.
The Knicks are in search of a new bench boss after parting ways with head coach Thibodeau after losing to the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals. Thibodeau was 226-174 in five seasons in New York, which included taking the Knicks to their first conference finals since 2000 this season.
They had reportedly been denied five times in their search for a head coach after asking to interview the Mavericks’ Jason Kidd, the Rockets’ Ime Udoka, the Timberwolves’ Chris Finch, the Hawks’ Quin Snyder and the Bulls’ Billy Donovan.
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