Rick Pitino won’t be returning to the New York Knicks.
“Absolutely not,” he said Wednesday night during the New York Yankees’ matchup with the Cleveland Guardians, where he threw out the first pitch.
While there are a number of reasons why he might be a great fit, Pitino is now officially out of the running.
The Knicks fired coach Tom Thibodeau on Tuesday after five seasons with the franchise. Thibodeau was fresh off a trip to the Eastern Conference finals, too, which is a place the Knicks hadn’t been since 2000. By all accounts, Thibodeau’s time with the Knicks was a success. He just couldn’t get them over the final hump and into the Finals.
“I feel bad for Thibs because I think he captured all of New York and built something very, very special,” Pitino said, via SNY. “A lot of us don’t comprehend what happened, but Thibs is going to be well taken care of and he’ll move on to other pastures.”
Naturally, the move has led to plenty of speculation as to whom the Knicks will hire to replace him. The team is now the only franchise without a head coach, after the Phoenix Suns moved to hire Cleveland Cavaliers assistant Jordan Ott on Wednesday. There are plenty of solid names available, like former Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone or ex-Sacramento Kings coach Mike Brown, for example. But others, like Pitino, have also been floated.
Pitino already worked for the Knicks early on in his career. He was an assistant there for two seasons before jumping into the head job in 1987. He returned to the league nearly a decade later for a short stint with the Boston Celtics. Pitino is now with St. John’s, where he’s fresh off an NCAA tournament trip and in the midst of a career revival following his tumultuous exit from Louisville.
Pitino wouldn’t necessarily be a long-term play for the Knicks, considering his age and where he’s at in his career, but he’s more than proved he’s capable of the job throughout his decades in the sport. And, with him right across the river in Queens and the Red Storm already playing their home games in Madison Square Garden, he’d be an easy call to make.
But, it sounds like Pitino, 72, is more than happy where he is.
“As long as you’re mentally and physically sharp, you do it as long as you can, because coaching is a blessing,” Pitino said, via SNY. “It’s the second-best thing to playing. I’ve been blessed with over 50 years of coaching, and I hope it continues as long as I can do it.”
The Knicks will have to look elsewhere.
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