Report: Kurt Rambis likely to stay on Knicks staff as lead assistant
The man that Phil Jackson supposedly wanted as New York Knicks head coach won’t be hung out to dry by the Knicks president.
According to ESPN’s Ian Begley, the Knicks are in negotiations to bring Rambis back as an assistant to new coach Jeff Hornacek. What’s more, the decision to bring Rambis back on staff was made by Hornacek, not Jackson or any other superiors.
Rambis’s title will be associate head coach, according to Al Iannazzone of Newsday, which is the same role he held under former coach Derek Fisher.
Of course, Hornacek and Rambis are not exactly strangers. They played together on the Phoenix Suns from 1989-1991, and according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, the two men considered bringing each other on staff when they were head coaches.
“I think it’d probably be more awkward if I didn’t know Kurt,” Hornacek said at his introductory news conference last Friday. “But I do know Kurt and we talked about a lot of things and how, if I kept him on as coach, what his role would be. It was a good talk.”
Rambis was once said to be Jackson’s only candidate for the head job, but things clearly changed. With Hornacek planning on implementing aspects of the triangle into his offensive philosophy, perhaps Rambis can help in that capacity.
