Two Notable Names To Interview for Knicks Head Coaching Vacancy

The New York Knicks have been soundly REJECTED — 5 times — in their attempts to lure a currently employed head coach to come to Madison Square Garden to fill their newly-created vacancy.

Now they've decided to go the old-fashioned route, and interview coaches who were recently fired and don't actually already have a job.

BREAKING: The Knicks will have formal interviews with former Grizzlies’ HC Taylor Jenkins & former Kings’ HC Mike Brown next week, per @JLEdwardsIII. pic.twitter.com/TknM7EeH5h
— SleeperKnicks (@SleeperKnicks) June 13, 2025

According to James L. Edwards III of The Athletic, former Memphis Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins, and ex-Sacramento Kings bench boss Mike Brown will both interview on Broadway next week.

As of now, they are considered the leading candidates to replace Tom Thibodeau, whom the Knicks fired on June 3 shortly after their first Eastern Conference finals appearance in 25 years.

Jenkins was shockingly fired by the Grizzlies with just nine games to go in the regular season this year, with a 44-29 record. Overall, in six years as the head man in Memphis, he had a 250-214 record with three trips to the playoffs and one series victory.

Brown has been an NBA head coach for 10 seasons. The Kings let him go after a slow start to this past season saw them go 13-18. He spent three years at the helm there after taking them to the playoffs in 2023 for the first time in 16 years for the franchise. He took the Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA Finals in his earlier coaching days (2007). Brown has a .599 career winning percentage.

Edwards does add that his sources tell him that the Knicks could "circle back" to two of the coaches they were rebuffed on in the past week or so, if the circumstances permit. Both Jason Kidd (Dallas Mavericks) and Billy Donovan (Chicago Bulls) are said to be looking for extensions from their current teams, and if those don't pan out, perhaps they could come back into play for the Knicks.