According to Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News, Jason Kidd is the new frontrunner to be the New York Knicks’ next head coach.
Bondy says Kidd “is viewed by the Knicks as a conduit to attracting free agents” but adds “there are also people in the organization who are skeptical of his coaching ability following underwhelming stints in Brooklyn and Milwaukee.”
Kidd is an assistant with the Los Angeles Lakers under head coach Frank Vogel. After retiring from the NBA in 2013 (Kidd’s last season was with the Knicks in the 2012-13 season) Kidd was named the Brooklyn Nets head coach. After a supposed power-play move within the organization, Brooklyn traded Kidd to the Milwaukee Bucks in 2014.
Kidd coached the Bucks for three and a half seasons, getting fired in 2018. During Kidd’s time in Milwaukee, he coached Giannis Antetokounmpo, a free agent in 2021. The 2019 NBA Most Valuable Player Award recipient reportedly had a sound relationship with Kidd. It has been reported that some NBA teams feel Kidd could be the “link” to Antetokounmpo.
Bondy says that potential assistants under Kidd include Kenny Payne, Rod Strickland and Mike Woodson, the Knicks head coach from 2012-14, and a reported candidate for the current coaching vacancy.
The New York Knicks fired head coach David Fizdale in December 2019 after going 4-18. They promoted assistant Mike Miller to interim head coach. The Knicks went 17-27 under Miller.
The team fired president Steve Mills in February, replacing him with former agent Leon Rose. Under Rose, the Knicks have retained Scott Perry as general manager, hired Walt Perrin as assistant general manager, and hired William Wesley as executive vice president/senior basketball advisor, among other moves.
Tom Thibodeau has been the long-standing favorite to be named the Knicks head coach given his relationship with Rose and Wesley by means of Creative Artists Agency. A source tells Bondy that owner James Dolan has been “unwilling” to meet Thibodeau’s contract requests and any deal between the two sides at this point would require a “concession.”