The New York Knicks’ win-loss record has brought Jeff Hornacek’s future with the team into question, but it’s the behind the scenes drama that will be his downfall.
Recently, Jeff Hornacek has come under fire and his status with the New York Knicks remains tenuous. Kyle O’Quinn was seen berating his coach during a loss to Minnesota on Friday night. Not a great look for a head coach, but certainly not the end of the world.
But when you add this to the never-ending drama surrounding Joakim Noah and his feud with Hornacek, and things start to look worse for Hornacek. He has tried to downplay the altercation that took place with Noah but regardless, it’s a bad look for the coach and the organization as a whole.
These two incidents are stains on Hornacek’s tenure, but there was the small chance that he could keep his job. To be fair, a player and a coach arguing is nothing new in the NBA and if the front office wants to move on from Noah, they wouldn’t have to worry about the Hornacek-Noah relationship.
But there may be more going on beneath the surface. According to Marc Berman and The New York Post, sources say that Kristaps Porzingis cursed out Hornacek during a practice last season. Even further, the source says that Hornacek was part of the reason why KP skipped his exit interview with the team that ruffled Phil Jackson’s feathers.
On the surface, Hornacek and the organization can stick to the talking points that these were isolated incidents and this sort of stuff happens all the time. But regardless of talking points, this is looking more like a pattern than a string of isolated incidents.
Hornacek was dealt a bad hand in New York and there’s no denying that. He was hamstrung by Jackson’s Triangle Offense last season and he had to endure the loss of his franchise player this year.
It is unlikely that the Knicks and Hornacek eclipse last year’s win total of 31. The failure to win and the numerous disputes with his players will be too much for him to overcome.
