While the Knicks are without a permanent head coach, a new name has thrown her hat into the coaching vacancy. That name is Becky Hammon.
Hammon became the first full-time female assistant coach in any of the big four American sports in 2014 after a 16-year run in the WNBA. She led the Spurs to a Las Vegas Summer League title in 2015 and became Gregg Popovich’s top assistant in 2018.
Sources told CNBC’s Jabari Young and Ganesh Setty that Hammon would have an interest in the position if she could land a four- or five-year deal. That has been fairly standard, as the last three Knicks coaches have landed five-year (Derek Fisher), three-year (Jeff Hornacek) and four-year (Fizdale) contracts despite each getting fired with at least one year left on their deals.
That type of security would probably be necessary because the Knicks are one of the toughest coaching jobs in the NBA.
An issue with luring prospective coaches, as one Eastern Conference scout tells CNBC, is that a coaching job under owner Jim Dolan is considered by many in the league to be a “terrible” position. Dolan has long been criticized by Knicks fans for the organization’s perpetual struggles. One would have to look back to 1999 to find the last time the Knicks made it to an NBA Finals and all the way back to the ’70s for a championship win.
