Knicks Reportedly Sought ‘Pathway’ To Steal Joe Mazzulla From Celtics

If you think you’ve heard it all when it comes to the New York Knicks’ recent (and wacky) head coach search, wait ’till you hear this. According to a new report from NBA insider Marc Stein, the Knicks, after firing Tom Thibodeau, explored ways to make Joe Mazzulla of the Boston Celtics their next head coach.

“It has … been whispered that the Knicks likely did some backchannel exploration to determine if there was any pathway to pursue Boston’s Joe Mazzulla,” Stein wrote for The Stein Line on Monday (subscription required). “There obviously was not … and then the Celtics extended Mazzulla’s contract in August.”

While a report of the Knicks pursuing Mazzulla might shock some fans, those who followed the circus of a process that New York underwent after firing Thibodeau won’t be surprised by Stein’s words.

The Knicks fired Thibodeau without a successor in place and proceeded to saunter around the NBA looking to lure already-employed head coaches away from their current teams, most notably Jason Kidd of the Dallas Mavericks.

The Knicks also tried to go after Houston Rockets’ Ime Udoka and Minnesota Timberwolves’ Chris Finch, among others. The Mavs, Rockets, and Wolves all denied New York permission to interview their sitting head coaches (of course they did).

After weeks of aimless and embarrassing meandering, the Knicks settled in early July on Mike Brown, who was fired by the Sacramento Kings last season.

No disrespect is intended here for Brown, who is a heck of a head coach and has found success almost everywhere he’s been.

The clown here is the Knicks’ front office, which approached the post-Thibodeau situation with a delusional entitlement so astounding, that even the Lakers’ brass gasped.