Another candidate has emerged for the Knicks’ head coaching job, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com, who reports that Jeff Hornacek has interviewed for the position. Hornacek joins Kurt Rambis, David Blatt, and Frank Vogel as contenders for the coaching opening in New York.
Hornacek, who was fired by the Suns earlier this year, has been linked to a handful of other head coaching jobs around the league since the regular season ended. The Magic and Grizzlies are rumored to have interest in the 53-year-old, who has also spoken to the Rockets about their coaching vacancy.
If Hornacek is unable to land any of the available head coaching jobs around the league, he may have an opportunity to land in Golden State as a lead assistant. Stein writes that the Warriors have “strong interest” in having Hornacek join their bench for the 2016/17 season.
Hornacek has a career regular season mark of 101-112 as an NBA head coach, which includes a dismal 14-35 mark in 2015/16. He failed to guide the Suns to the postseason during his tenure with the franchise. Hornacek was also mentioned as a potential head coaching candidate for the Pacers, Kings, and Lakers before those teams went in different directions.
If the Knicks do opt for an outside candidate for their head coaching job, Rambis is still expected to remain with the team as an assistant capacity, at Phil Jackson‘s behest, says Stein.
If Phil was really doing a search for a coach he wouldn’t be doing it now that the best options already have jobs. He may be trying to save face and get a head coach that will take rambis as assistant then bumped over when his team is bad. The Knicks will still be bad next year regardless of coach. He will save face over offseason without Rambis really getting head coaching job.