KEY POINTS

  • Steve Mills was the EVP and GM of the Knicks in 2013
  • He took over the President’s Role in 2017 after Phil Jackson’s departure
  • Mills will still be part of James Dolan’s board

Could this be the start of something for the New York Knicks?

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski posted on Twitter that the team has fired Steve Mills as the team president. Mills took over the position in 2017 after the departure of Phil Jackson.

The team confirmed the decision by posting on their channel, saying that Mills will be relieved of his duties immediately. “Steve and I have come to the decision that it would be best for him to leave his role as president of the New York Knicks,” team owner James Dolan said in the statement. “We thank Steve for his many years of service to our organization and look forward to continuing our relationship with him as a part of our board.”

With the position temporarily vacated, team General Manager Scott Perry will take over the Knicks’ basketball operations in the interim.

“It has been a great honor representing the Knicks,” Mills said per the shared statement. “I will always be grateful to Jim for giving me the chance to represent this franchise and I’m disappointed we were unable to achieve success for New York.”

“I would like to thank the staff and the players for their hard work during my tenure. I will always be a Knicks fan,” added Mills, who was the team’s Executive Vice President and General Manager in 2013 replacing Glen Grunwald.

His firing, though, won’t mean he will be leaving the team as he is set to be part of the team’s board once business proposals get approved and completed.

In his two-and-a-half season with the Knickerbockers, the team racked up a 61-200 win-loss record, including the team’s current standing at 15-36. He oversaw the team when the team traded arguably their best players in Carmelo Anthony to the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2017 for Enes Kanter and Doug McDermott, and then-injured Kristaps Porzingis to the Dallas Mavericks for DeAndre Jordan, Dennis Smith, Jr., and Courtney Lee per NBA release.

The decision to fire Mills drew reactions on Twitter from the Knicks fans (and not) and while some agree on the decision, some are still not satisfied and are looking for more.

Steve Mills New York Knicks
To many, new general manager Steve Mills, right, is a symbol of the Isiah Thomas Era. However his influence among players and around the league cant' be understated. Reuters
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