The New York Knicks have reportedly been met with blunt and even profane rejections in their search for a new head coach, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. Speaking on The Rich Eisen Show, Charania detailed the Knicks’ failed attempts to interview multiple sitting head coaches around the league, revealing that several teams responded with hostility.
“Out of the five rejections, some of the scenarios that I heard was, you know, teams would just hang up. They would say no and hang up. Teams would have maybe some profanity. Maybe there’s some ‘F*** no.'”
“In other situations, it’s the owners calling the team and being the one to be like, you’re not talking to our guy. And so listen, the Knicks probably expected some of these responses.”
“Anytime you reach out to other teams for their head coaches, you are susceptible for that team to have some kind of a reaction, and the Knicks went through this exercise, an educational process in their mind, to see which coaches they could potentially talk to.”
It’s a brutal indictment of where the Knicks currently stand in the eyes of their peers, despite coming off their best season in over two decades. New York shocked the NBA world by firing Tom Thibodeau after reaching the Eastern Conference Finals, and what was supposed to be an upgrade search has quickly become a league-wide spectacle.
The Knicks thought they were shopping at the top shelf; instead, they’re being laughed out of the room.
The list of coaches they attempted to interview reads like a who’s who of respected tacticians: Jason Kidd (Mavericks), Chris Finch (Timberwolves), Ime Udoka (Rockets), Billy Donovan (Bulls), and Quin Snyder (Hawks). All said no. Most didn’t even entertain the idea. And at least a few responded with vulgarity or immediate rejection, according to Charania.
For New York, this was more than just due diligence. These were genuine targets. Jason Kidd, in particular, has ties to the franchise as a former player and coached Jalen Brunson during his early years in Dallas.
Chris Finch has helped turn Anthony Edwards into a superstar in Minnesota. And Udoka led the Rockets to a breakout season and is widely seen as a coach on the rise. But none of those teams had any interest in cooperating with the Knicks.
The rejections weren’t just polite “nos” behind closed doors; they were pointed. Profane. Dismissive.
And while that kind of pushback can sometimes galvanize a franchise, in this case, it only amplifies the perception that New York’s front office underestimated the challenge of replacing a successful coach mid-contention window.
Currently, the Knicks are pivoting. They’ve scheduled interviews with two former head coaches: Taylor Jenkins, who was recently let go by the Memphis Grizzlies after a disappointing season, and Mike Brown, who previously coached the Sacramento Kings.
Both are respected in league circles, but neither represents the kind of star hire that Leon Rose and the Knicks seemed to be pursuing at the outset.
What’s clear now is that New York miscalculated badly. Whether it was the abrupt firing of Thibodeau, the aggressive targeting of established coaches under contract, or the assumption that a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals would grant them cachet, the Knicks have been humbled.
Now, they’re left scrambling to find a leader, while the rest of the league enjoys the show.
