After getting to within two wins of the NBA Finals, further in the NBA postseason than they'd been in many, many years, the New York Knicks decided to fire their head coach Tom Thibodeau. This decision came despite Thibodeau getting the Knicks to the postseason in each of the last four years, and more importantly, making the franchise relevant again.
Higher ups in the Knick organization reportedly thought that it was time for a "new voice," so out goes the surly Thibodeau, and in comes the next in a long line of Knicks head coaches. Who will it be? Well, if you believe longtime NBA reporter Marc Stein (via Ian Beglley of SNY in New York), there is Knicks interest in Houston Rockets head coach Imi Udoka:
My early read is that Dan Hurley isn’t at the top of New York’s initial list. So who is? Marc Stein reported late Tuesday that Ime Udoka and Jason Kidd are two coaches who are said to intrigue the Knicks. Udoka is a name that I’d heard as well. To hire Udoka, the Knicks would have to get permission from Houston and give the Rockets compensation to let Udoka out of his deal.
Okay, this report to me is several levels of silly, not that the Knicks would be interested in Udoka, but that there is even a shred of a possibility of Udoka being on the Knicks bench come next fall. I'll let Kelly Iko, Rockets beat writer for The Athletic, pour cold water on it first:
Regarding reports identifying Ime Udoka as a possible target for the vacant Knicks coaching position, HOU has no interest in entertaining that, a team source told @TheAthletic. Both parties are committed to the longterm project and are actively preparing for a busy offseason.
— Kelly Iko (@KellyIko) June 4, 2025
And now here comes my tsunami of equally frigid water — there is zero chance that the Fertitta family would entertain the notion of trading Udoka for any level of compensation that the Knicks could give them. The Knicks' best player is point guard Jalen Brunson, who would be an upgrade over Rockets current point guard Fred Vanvleet, and I still feel like there is NO chance that would happen (even if it could under league bargaining rules, which I'm not sure it can).
While many NBA teams have a star player as the "face of the franchise," I would argue passionately that the face of the Rockets is indeed Udoka, the catalyst behind the team's culture chance and the stamp of credibility that will make the Rockets an attractive landing spot for new star players, possibly as early as this offseason.
On top of all that, Udoka seems to like it here. He's been able to watch the young core take massive strides in terms of their maturity and quality of play. Additionally, Tilman Fertitta seems like he would be light years ahead of Knicks owner James Dolan, when it comes to workplace environment.
For what it's worth, here are the odds on who the next Knicks head coach may be, courtesy of BetOnline.ag:
Mike Malone +100
Jay Wright +150
Jeff Van Gundy +600
Chris Quinn +700
Taylor Jenkins +800
Danny Hurley +900
Rick Brunson +1200
Mike Brown +1400
Mark Jackson +1600
Steve Nash +2200
James Borrego +3300
Johnnie Bryant +4000
John Calapari +4500
Mike Budenholzer +5000
Mike D'Antoni +5000
Sam Cassell +6600
Hey, if Dolan and the Knicks are hellbent on having some Houston Rocket ties to their next head coach, there is no shortage of Rockets associations on this list. Jeff Van Gundy has been a head coach of both the Knicks AND Rockets in his coaching career, as has Mike D'Antoni. Finally, someday, Sam Cassell will get the call to be a head coach.
In the meantime, Knicks, keep your greasy paws off the Houston Rockets head coach. As Karen Hill told her husband Henry's mistress in the classic movie Goodfellas — "FIND YOUR OWN MAN!"
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