TheNew York Knicks are an American professionalbasketball team based inNew York City. They are a member of theAtlantic Division of theEastern Conference in theNational Basketball Association (NBA). They play their home games atMadison 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 theBasketball Association of America (BAA), the predecessor of the NBA, in 1946, the Knicks remain as one of the oldest teams in the NBA.[2] DuringRed Holzman's tenure, the franchise won its only twoNBA championships, the1970 NBA Finals and the1973 NBA Finals.
There have been 31head coaches for the New York Knicks franchise. Holzman was the franchise's firstCoach 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 theBasketball Hall of Fame in 1986 as a coach.[3] Besides Holzman,Rick Pitino,Don Nelson,Pat Riley,Lenny Wilkens, andLarry Brown have been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as coaches. Four coaches have been named to the list of thetop 10 coaches in NBA history.[4]Neil Cohalan,Joe Lapchick,Vince Boryla,Carl Braun,Eddie Donovan andHerb 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]
| 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 theBasketball Hall of Fame as a coach |
Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the2024–25 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(asplayer-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 | NBA Coach of the Year (1969–70) 2 championships (1970,1973) One of thetop 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 | NBA Coach of the Year (1992–93) 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 | 2020–2025 | 400 | 226 | 174 | .565 | 47 | 24 | 23 | .511 | NBA Coach of the Year (2020–21) | [40] |
| 32 | Mike Brown | 2025–present | — | — | — | – | — | — | — | — | [41] | |
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