The New York Knicks moved swiftly in making the controversial decision to fire coach Tom Thibodeau after losing to the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Finding his replacement is proving to be more difficult, and perhaps harder than anybody inside Madison Square Garden thought.
The Knicks have sought permission to speak with at least three sitting NBA head coaches in recent days and been turned down by every team currently employing them, according to multiple reports. ESPN reported Wednesday that Jason Kidd of the Dallas Mavericks became the latest coach New York sought permission to speak with only to be denied by the Mavericks.
The Knicks have also tried to interview Chris Finch of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Ime Udoka of the Houston Rockets since firing Thibodeau on June 3, according to multiple reports.
New York is coming off its first conference finals appearance in 25 years under Thibodeau, who spent five seasons with the Knicks. His firing came less than a year after he signed a three-year contract extension that hadn’t even started yet.
The Knicks were the fifth NBA head coach opening this offseason and the only available job at the moment. Three openings were filled when the Memphis Grizzlies, Sacramento Kings and Denver Nuggets each elected to elevate their interim coach from the end of the 2024-25 NBA season. The Phoenix Suns recently hired former Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coach Jordan Ott to be its new coach.
Kidd, 52, led the Mavericks to the 2024 NBA Finals and has five playoff appearances over nine seasons as an NBA head coach with the Brooklyn Nets, Milwaukee Bucks and Dallas. He was also an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers when they won the 2020 NBA championship.
Finch, 55, just took the Timberwolves to the Western Conference Finals for the second year in a row. Udoka, 47, spearheaded the Boston Celtics when they went to the 2022 NBA Finals before serving a one-year suspension due to multiple violations of team policy. He was hired by Houston ahead of the 2023-24 season and has quickly turned the Rockets into a Western Conference contender in his two seasons there.
Thibodeau, 67, previously served as the head coach for the Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves. His .579 career winning percentage is the highest by any coach without an NBA Finals appearance (minimum 300 games coached), according to ESPN. He wrote a thank you letter to Knicks fans that was posted to social media and ran as a full-page ad in Wednesday’s New York Times.