There are several NBA teams that are currently searching for a new head coach, but the two most high profile teams in the league are both currently looking for coaches at the same time, which is a rarity. The New York Knicks fired Derek Fisher in the middle of the year but have been relatively quiet this offseason in search for another coach.
There are a lot of big names and good coaches with winning experience available, but it seems as though the Knicks only have two real candidates. One of them is Kurt Rambis, who took over as the Knicks' interim coach when Fisher was fired, and the other is David Blatt, who was fired by the Cleveland Cavaliers earlier this season.
All along, Blatt and Rambis have really been the only two coaches even mentioned as possibilities for the Knicks, but most people believe that Rambis is the frontrunner. It was reported a couple of days ago that Blatt met with Phil Jackson regarding the head coaching vacancy. The story didn't gain all that much traction at the time, but since then, it has been reported again by the most credible of sources, and now it seems like Blatt may be a real possibility for the Knicks.
Blatt is a former college teammate of Knicks GM Steve Mills, and although he doesn't fit the idea that Jackson would only include people he knows in the coaching search, Blatt at least knows someone in the building. Knicks fans would likely not be very happy if Rambis was hired as the full-time head coach, but Blatt is a pretty solid option.
The 56-year-old head coach has proven that he can win in the past, whether that is in the NBA or overseas. Before you say that he was lucky in Cleveland, it must be noted that he was the first coach ever to be fired while his team was leading their conference. Blatt may not have been perfect with the Cavaliers, but he was in a no-win situation from the start, as the expectations were through the roof once LeBron James decided to return home. Blatt led the team to the NBA Finals in his first year and had them in first place in his second year; there is not much more you could ask for from a coach.
At this point, Knicks fans may just be completely fed up with the team's coaching search considering Jackson seemed to be angling for Rambis to be the full-time head coach all along. But if the search is down to just Blatt and Rambis, at least Blatt is an option that has proven he can win at the NBA level, something Rambis has yet to do.
