The New York Knicks have expanded their coaching search to four men. Here are five facts about each potential head coach.
The New York Knicks search for a head coach, once limited to just two men, has extended to four. Knicks president Phil Jackson met face-to-face with Frank Vogel and Jeff Hornacek, both of whom coached NBA teams in 2016, in Los Angeles last week.Interim head coach Kurt Rambis is considered the front-runner for the job, and New York interviewed former Cavaliers coach David Blatt in late April. Rambis finished the year 9-19 after Jackson fired Derek Fisher midway through the season.
The Knicks are one of four remaining teams with a coaching vacancy, including the Orlando Magic, Houston Rockets and the Memphis Grizzlies.
Here are five fast facts about each coach tied to New York’s job opening:
Kurt Rambis – Interim Head Coach, NYK
- Rambis was drafted by the New York Knicks 58th overall in the 1980 NBA Draft, but was waived. After playing professionally in Greece, Rambis returned to the Knicks, but would never see the court He would later sign as a free agent with the “showtime” Los Angeles Lakers, where he played an integral role in four championships (1982, 1985, 1987-88).
- Rambis served as Jackson’s assistant coach twice with the Los Angeles Lakers. He was a part of four of five Lakers championships under the Zen Master. Rambis is considered the front-runner for New York’s coaching vacancy because of his commitment to running the Triangle Offense — the offense Jackson ran en route to his 11 NBA championship rings with both Chicago and L.A. — and his long-standing relationship with Jackson.
- Rambis was interim head coach of the 1999 Los Angeles Lakers after Del Harris was fired. He posted a 24-13 record in L.A. before his team was swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Semifinals.
- Rambis took over as head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2009. He amassed a 32-132 record with a T’Wolves team whose roster featured a young Kevin Love, Al Jefferson, Corey Brewer, Darko Milicic, Ryan Hollins, Johnny Flynn, Wayne Ellington, and later Ricky Rubio. Former sportswriter David Kahn was the general manager of that Timberwolves team, and Rambis barely ran the Triangle Offense.
- As interim head coach, Rambis finished the season 9-19. It can be argued since taking over for Fisher, New York has keyed in on the Triangle Offense. It is reported Jackson has been more active with the team since Rambis took over, becoming more vocal (and visible) at team practices. Jackson sees Rambis as an extension of himself on the floor, hence his status as the front-runner for New York’s coaching job.
- Sidebar: His name is not actually Kurt. It’s Darrell. Darrell Kurt Rambis.
David Blatt – Former HC, CLE
- Blatt played his college ball at Princeton between 1977 and 1981. So did Knicks GM Steve Mills. There’s the connection between the two. Both played under coaching legend Pete Carrill and have a working relationship.
- Blatt was Israeli League Coach of the Year four times (1996, 2002, 2011, 2014) and was 2014 Euroleague Coach of the Year leading Maccabi Tel Aviv to the Euroleague Championship. He ran the Princeton Offense overseas. The Los Angeles Lakers fired Mike Brown five games into the 2012-13 season (fastest firing in NBA history) for poor results running the same offense with Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard.
- In 2014, Blatt made the jump to the NBA and coached the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA Finals. The injury-riddled team lost to the Golden State Warriors in six games. Blatt and Warriors coach Steve Kerr were the first rookie head coaches to ever face each other in the NBA Finals.
- Blatt was fired this season with a 30-11 record. It marked the first time in NBA history a coach was fired while his team stood first in its conference. Blatt finished with an 83-40 record in Cleveland.
- Blatt also interviewed for the both Sacramento Kings and Houston Rockets head coaching vacancies. The Kings opted to go with ex-Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger. Houston has yet to name its next head coach.
Frank Vogel – Former HC, IND
- Vogel played Division-III college basketball in Pennsylvania before transferring to Kentucky. No, he didn’t play for the Wildcats, but he was the team’s student manager under head coach Rick Pitino in 1994-95. He’d play for the school’s junior varsity team the next year.
- Like Rambis, but not to same extent, Vogel also has a relationship with Phil Jackson. Vogel was an advance scout for Jackson’s 2005-06 Los Angeles Lakers team. He also hired Brian Shaw, considered a Jackson disciple, and has praised the Zen Master’s approach to the game.
- “From the standpoint of studying the NBA game, I was always a big fan of Phil Jackson and his approach,” Vogel told the Indianapolis publication Nuvo. “Obviously he had great players, but there were a lot of coaches with great players that didn’t win at the level he did. That was a big reason why I hired [Pacers associate head coach] Brian Shaw. He was as close to Phil as anyone could be and I thought I could rely on that experience and it’s been awesome.”
- Like several other successful NBA head coaches (see Erik Spoelstra), Vogel began his coaching career as a video coordinator with the Boston Celtics, again under Rick Pitino. He would move around the NBA as an assistant coach before finally sticking in Indiana. When Pacers head coach Jim O’Brien was fired in 2011, Vogel led the team to its first playoff berth since 2006.
- Indiana saw improvement for four consecutive seasons when Vogel took over. The Pacers were a top-11 team in defensive efficiency every season under his lead. Indiana missed the playoffs only once under Vogel: the 2014-15 season star forward Paul George missed after he suffered a gruesome leg injury at Team USA camp. That Indiana team still won 38 games. New York won 32 this season.
- Vogel has also shown a willingness to adapt his offensive philosophies. He shifted Indiana’s offense to pace-and-space this season and, despite a bare bones Pacers roster, led his team to playoffs where it took No. 2 Toronto to seven games.
- Vogel’s Pacers defeated Mike Woodson’s Knicks in six games in the 2012-13 Eastern Conference Semifinals. ESPN reported Knicks owner James Dolan felt Vogel out-coached New York in that series. According to the New York Post, so did Carmelo Anthony.
- Via Marc Berman: “Anthony, lobbying for Jackson to continue his search, would probably be pleased with Vogel. Ironically, in a backpage story in The Post two seasons ago after a bitter loss in Indiana, Anthony praised the Pacers’ coaching staff for its halftime adjustments to which Woodson didn’t respond.”
Vogel’s contract with Indiana expired this season. Team president Larry Bird opted not to renew it, citing his preference the team scored more points.
Jeff Hornacek – Former HC, PHX
- Hornacek played college ball at Iowa State before Phoenix drafted him 46th overall in the 1986 NBA Draft. The combo guard averaged 14.5 points per game over his 14 year NBA career, peaking in 1991-92 with averages of 20.1 points, 5.1 assists and 5.0 rebounds. He is scratching the outside of the 50-40-90 club, having shot .496 from the field, .403 from three and .877 from the charity stripe.
- Phoenix traded Hornacek to Philadelphia as part of the Charles Barkley deal. In his final season as part of the Utah Jazz, Hornacek sank 171 of 180 free throws. He shot .950 from the line that season, the fifth-best single-season free throw percentage in NBA history.
- Hornacek played under Jerry Sloan in Utah, and would eventually work under him as an assistant coach. In 2007-08, he was brought to Utah to help Andrei Kirilenko and others with their perimeter shooting.
- Hornacek spent two-and-a-half seasons as head coach of the Phoenix Suns. Unfortunately, Phoenix’s record slipped every season under his tutelage. Hornacek was fired earlier this season after a battered Suns team fell to 14-35. His NBA coaching record is 101-112 (.474).
- Hornacek interviewed with Phil Jackson in Los Angeles on Monday. ESPN.com reported Hornacek would be at the top of the Golden State Warriors list for assistant coach after Luke Walton left the team for the Los Angeles Lakers job.
Here’s how Twitter voted in a poll of these four coaching candidates: