List of New York Knicks head coaches

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 31 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

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

Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2023–24 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* 1947–1956 573 326 247 .569 60 30 30 .500 [6]
3 Vince Boryla* 1956–1958 165 80 85 .485 — — — — [7]
4 Andrew Levane 1958–1959 99 48 51 .485 2 0 2 .000 [17]
5 Carl Braun* 1959–1961 (as player-coach) 127 40 87 .315 — — — — [8]
6 Eddie Donovan* 1961–1965 278 84 194 .302 — — — — [9]
7 Harry Gallatin 1965 63 25 38 .397 — — — — [18]
8 Dick McGuire 1965–1967 177 75 102 .424 4 1 3 .250 [19]
9 Red Holzman† 1967–1977 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 1977–1978 96 49 47 .510 6 2 4 .333 [20]
— Red Holzman† 1978–1982 314 147 167 .468 2 0 2 .000 One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history[4] [3]
11 Hubie Brown 1982–1986 344 142 202 .413 18 8 10 .444 [21]
12 Bob Hill 1986–1987 66 20 46 .303 — — — — [22]
13 Rick Pitino† 1987–1989 164 90 74 .549 13 6 7 .462 [23]
14 Stu Jackson 1989–1990 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† 1991–1995 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 1996–2001 420 248 172 .590 69 37 32 .536 [28]
19 Don Chaney 2001–2004 184 72 112 .391 — — — — [29]
20 Herb Williams* 2004 1 1 0 1.000 — — — — [10]
21 Lenny Wilkens† 2004–2005 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 2006–2008 164 56 108 .341 — — — — [32]
24 Mike D'Antoni 2008–2012 288 121 167 .420 4 0 4 .000 [33]
25 Mike Woodson 2012–2014 188 109 79 .580 17 7 10 .412 [34]
26 Derek Fisher* 2014–2016 136 40 96 .294 — — — — [35]
27 Kurt Rambis 2016 28 9 19 .321 — — — — [36]
28 Jeff Hornacek 2016–2018 164 60 104 .366 — — — — [37]
29 David Fizdale 2018–2019 104 21 83 .202 — — — — [38]
30 Mike Miller* 2019–2020 44 17 27 .386 — — — — [39]
31 Tom Thibodeau 2020–present 318 175 143 .550 29 14 15 .483 2020–21 NBA Coach of the Year [40]

Notes

  • 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

General
  • "New York Knicks Coach Register". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on September 30, 2008. Retrieved October 7, 2008.
Specific
  1. ^ "Why Knickerbockers?". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on March 4, 2011. 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. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. 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. Archived from the original on October 11, 2008. Retrieved October 7, 2008.
  6. ^ a b "Joe Lapchick Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on October 7, 2011. Retrieved October 7, 2008.
  7. ^ a b "Vince Boryla Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on July 28, 2011. Retrieved October 7, 2008.
  8. ^ a b "Carl Braun Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on March 7, 2011. Retrieved October 7, 2008.
  9. ^ a b "Eddie Donovan Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on June 16, 2011. 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. Archived from the original on October 21, 2008. Retrieved October 12, 2008.
  12. ^ "Carl Braun Playing Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on March 3, 2011. Retrieved October 12, 2008.
  13. ^ "Harry Gallatin Playing Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on March 15, 2018. Retrieved October 12, 2008.
  14. ^ "Dick McGuire Playing Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013. Retrieved October 12, 2008.
  15. ^ "Willis Reed Playing Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on August 7, 2011. Retrieved October 12, 2008.
  16. ^ "Herb Williams Playing Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on July 28, 2011. Retrieved October 12, 2008.
  17. ^ "Andrew Levane Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on December 4, 2009. Retrieved October 7, 2008.
  18. ^ "Harry Gallatin Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on December 2, 2009. Retrieved October 8, 2008.
  19. ^ "Dick McGuire Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on January 17, 2013. Retrieved October 8, 2008.
  20. ^ "Willis Reed Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on October 18, 2008. Retrieved October 8, 2008.
  21. ^ "Hubie Brown Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on April 15, 2009. Retrieved October 8, 2008.
  22. ^ "Bob Hill Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on June 14, 2008. 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. Archived from the original on July 20, 2008. Retrieved October 8, 2008.
  25. ^ "John MacLeod Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on July 21, 2022. Retrieved October 8, 2008.
  26. ^ "Pat Riley Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on March 7, 2011. Retrieved October 8, 2008.
  27. ^ "Don Nelson Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on May 19, 2011. Retrieved October 8, 2008.
  28. ^ "Jeff Van Gundy Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on August 3, 2011. Retrieved October 8, 2008.
  29. ^ "Don Chaney Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on January 17, 2013. Retrieved October 8, 2008.
  30. ^ "Lenny Wilkens Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on January 8, 2012. Retrieved October 8, 2008.
  31. ^ "Larry Brown Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on October 6, 2012. Retrieved October 8, 2008.
  32. ^ "Isiah Thomas Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on October 24, 2008. Retrieved October 8, 2008.
  33. ^ "Mike D'Antoni Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on October 4, 2011. Retrieved March 14, 2012.
  34. ^ "Mike Woodson Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on August 7, 2011. Retrieved December 18, 2012.
  35. ^ "Derek Fisher Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on July 5, 2015. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  36. ^ "Kurt Rambis Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on July 2, 2008. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
  37. ^ "Jeff Hornacek Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on April 19, 2014. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  38. ^ "David Fizdale Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on December 31, 2019. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  39. ^ "Mike Miller Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on December 7, 2019. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  40. ^ "Tom Thibodeau Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved April 15, 2024.