NBA Rumors: Rick Fox wants to coach the New York Knicks
By Chris Walder
Current NBA TV analyst Rick Fox would ditch the glitz and glamor of television in a heartbeat if New York Knicks’ team president Phil Jackson called and asked him to be their new head coach.
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Fox would rather see Jackson in that role, but he’d gladly take the position if at all possible, per Al Iannazzone of Newsday.com:
"There are a number of open jobs. I’ve been looking and in conversations with Phil Jackson, in supporting his vision for the Knicks. I love the Lakers, obviously. They’re a little unsure which direction they want to go in right now. I think you’ll probably get a quicker answer out of New York.I’m hoping — I keep saying to Phil Jackson — he needs to coach the team. He’s the best guy for it. He’s the holy grail of coaches. If he needed my support in some way, it’d be hard to turn him down. Or if he needed me to step in and do the job myself, I’d definitely welcome that."
Fox played five seasons under Jackson as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, so he’s very familiar with the triangle offense, a staple of Jackson’s coaching repertoire.
Steve Kerr was the frontrunner for the job before he went on to sign with the Golden State Warriors. Luke Walton, Bill Cartwright, Kurt Rambis and Jim Cleamons are all being discussed as potential hirings, mainly due to their past working in Jackson’s system as players or assistants.
Fox has zero coaching experience on his resume, but neither did Kerr, yet he was being sought after in a huge way.