List of New York Knicks head coaches

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The New York Knickerbockers are an American professional basketball team based in New York City. They are a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). They play their home games at Madison Square Garden. The franchise's official name "Knickerbockers" came from the style of pants Dutch settlers wore when they moved to America.[1] Having joined the Basketball Association of America (BAA), the predecessor of the NBA, in 1946, the Knicks remain as one of the oldest teams in the NBA.[2] During Red Holzman's tenure, the franchise won its only two NBA championships, the 1970 NBA Finals and the 1973 NBA Finals.

There have been 26 head coaches for the New York Knicks franchise. Holzman was the franchise's first Coach of the Year winner and is the team's all-time leader in regular season games coached, regular season games won, playoff games coached, and playoff games won.[3] Holzman was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1986 as a coach.[3] Besides Holzman, Rick Pitino, Don Nelson, Pat Riley, Lenny Wilkens, and Larry Brown have been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as coaches. Four coaches have been named to the list of the top 10 coaches in NBA history.[4] Neil Cohalan, Joe Lapchick, Vince Boryla, Carl Braun, Eddie Donovan and Herb Williams have spent their entire coaching careers with the Knicks.[5][6][7][8][9][10] Boryla, Braun, Harry Gallatin, Dick McGuire, Willis Reed and Williams formerly played for the Knicks.[11][12][13][14][15][16]

Key[edit]

GC Games coached
W Wins
L Losses
Win% Winning percentage
# Number of coaches[a]
* Spent entire NBA head coaching career with the Knicks
Elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach

Coaches[edit]

Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2022–23 season.

# Name Term[b] GC W L Win% GC W L Win% Achievements Reference
Regular season Playoffs
1 Neil Cohalan* 1946–1947 60 33 27 .550 5 2 3 .400 [5]
2 Joe Lapchick* 19471956 573 326 247 .569 60 30 30 .500 [6]
3 Vince Boryla* 19561958 165 80 85 .485 [7]
4 Andrew Levane 19581959 99 48 51 .485 2 0 2 .000 [17]
5 Carl Braun* 19591961 (as player-coach) 127 40 87 .315 [8]
6 Eddie Donovan* 19611965 278 84 194 .302 [9]
7 Harry Gallatin 1965 63 25 38 .397 [18]
8 Dick McGuire 19651967 177 75 102 .424 4 1 3 .250 [19]
9 Red Holzman 19671977 783 466 317 .595 95 54 41 .568 1969–70 NBA Coach of the Year
2 championships (1970, 1973)
One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history[4]
[3]
10 Willis Reed 19771978 96 49 47 .510 6 2 4 .333 [20]
Red Holzman 19781982 314 147 167 .468 2 0 2 .000 One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history[4] [3]
11 Hubie Brown 19821986 344 142 202 .413 18 8 10 .444 [21]
12 Bob Hill 1986–1987 66 20 46 .303 [22]
13 Rick Pitino 19871989 164 90 74 .549 13 6 7 .462 [23]
14 Stu Jackson 19891990 97 52 45 .536 10 4 6 .400 [24]
15 John MacLeod 1990–1991 67 32 35 .478 3 0 3 .000 [25]
16 Pat Riley 19911995 328 223 105 .680 63 35 28 .556 1992–93 NBA Coach of the Year
One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history[4]
[26]
17 Don Nelson 1995–1996 59 34 25 .576 One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history[4] [27]
18 Jeff Van Gundy 19962001 420 248 172 .590 69 37 32 .536 [28]
19 Don Chaney 20012004 184 72 112 .391 [29]
20 Herb Williams* 2004 1 1 0 1.000 [10]
21 Lenny Wilkens 20042005 81 40 41 .494 4 0 4 .000 One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history[4] [30]
Herb Williams* 2005 43 16 27 .372 [10]
22 Larry Brown 2005–2006 82 23 59 .280 [31]
23 Isiah Thomas 20062008 164 56 108 .341 [32]
24 Mike D'Antoni 20082012 288 121 167 .420 4 0 4 .000 [33]
25 Mike Woodson 20122014 188 109 79 .580 17 7 10 .412 [34]
26 Derek Fisher* 20142016 136 40 96 .294 [35]
27 Kurt Rambis 2016 28 9 19 .321 [36]
28 Jeff Hornacek 20162018 164 60 104 .366 [37]
29 David Fizdale 20182019 104 21 83 .202 [38]
30 Mike Miller* 2019–2020 44 17 27 .386 [39]
31 Tom Thibodeau 2020–present 236 125 111 .530 16 7 9 .438 2020–21 NBA Coach of the Year [40]

Notes[edit]

  • a A running total of the number of coaches of the Knicks. Thus, any coach who has two or more separate terms as head coach is only counted once.
  • b Each year is linked to an article about that particular NBA season.

References[edit]

General
  • "New York Knicks Coach Register". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 7, 2008.
Specific
  1. ^ "Why Knickerbockers?". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved October 10, 2008.
  2. ^ "History of the New York Knicks". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on October 16, 2008. Retrieved October 10, 2008.
  3. ^ a b c d "Red Holzman Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 8, 2008.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Top 10 Coaches in NBA History". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on February 9, 2012. Retrieved October 9, 2008.
  5. ^ a b "Neil Cohalan Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 7, 2008.
  6. ^ a b "Joe Lapchick Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 7, 2008.
  7. ^ a b "Vince Boryla Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 7, 2008.
  8. ^ a b "Carl Braun Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 7, 2008.
  9. ^ a b "Eddie Donovan Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 7, 2008.
  10. ^ a b c "Herb Williams Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on February 11, 2001. Retrieved October 8, 2008.
  11. ^ "Vince Boryla Playing Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 12, 2008.
  12. ^ "Carl Braun Playing Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 12, 2008.
  13. ^ "Harry Gallatin Playing Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 12, 2008.
  14. ^ "Dick McGuire Playing Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 12, 2008.
  15. ^ "Willis Reed Playing Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 12, 2008.
  16. ^ "Herb Williams Playing Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 12, 2008.
  17. ^ "Andrew Levane Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 7, 2008.
  18. ^ "Harry Gallatin Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 8, 2008.
  19. ^ "Dick McGuire Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 8, 2008.
  20. ^ "Willis Reed Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 8, 2008.
  21. ^ "Hubie Brown Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 8, 2008.
  22. ^ "Bob Hill Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 8, 2008.
  23. ^ "Rick Pitino Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on June 24, 2008. Retrieved October 8, 2008.
  24. ^ "Stu Jackson Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 8, 2008.
  25. ^ "John MacLeod Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 8, 2008.
  26. ^ "Pat Riley Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 8, 2008.
  27. ^ "Don Nelson Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 8, 2008.
  28. ^ "Jeff Van Gundy Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 8, 2008.
  29. ^ "Don Chaney Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 8, 2008.
  30. ^ "Lenny Wilkens Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 8, 2008.
  31. ^ "Larry Brown Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 8, 2008.
  32. ^ "Isiah Thomas Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 8, 2008.
  33. ^ "Mike D'Antoni Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved March 14, 2012.
  34. ^ "Mike Woodson Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved December 18, 2012.
  35. ^ "Derek Fisher Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  36. ^ "Kurt Rambis Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  37. ^ "Jeff Hornacek Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  38. ^ "David Fizdale Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  39. ^ "Mike Miller Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  40. ^ "Tom Thibodeau Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved June 30, 2021.