New York Knicks Rumors: Team Could Fire Jeff Hornacek, Hire Doc Rivers From Clippers

As success continues to elude the New York Knicks, the rumor mill is fired back up regarding the team’s head coaching position. Marc Berman of the New York Post proposed, based on something an unnamed source told him, a future pairing between the Knicks and current Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers.

The source, a “former Rivers associate,” said Rivers could be interested in the Knicks job if the team decides to part ways with head coach Jeff Hornacek. Rivers played for the Knicks for two seasons in the early 1990s, and according to this associate, still has a level of fondness for the city and team.

“Doc enjoyed his time there,’’ the associate told Berman. “He respects the city, he respects the organization.’’

There is one potential procedural snag to the idea of Rivers coming back to the Big Apple. He has another year left on his contract in Los Angeles, meaning the Knicks would have to surrender a draft pick in order to hire him. Of course, if the team felt like Rivers would bring a legitimate championship pedigree to New York, that price would not be too high.

Though Rivers has faced plenty of scrutiny over his coaching abilities throughout his long career, the Knicks would have reason to believe he would be an upgrade. Rivers has won nearly 58 percent of the games he has coached in the NBA. He was a Coach of the Year in Orlando, won two conference championships and an NBA Finals in Boston and has not missed the playoffs in Los Angeles.

However, Rivers has not always left the most positive impression on some players and fans. Multiple former players, such as Glen “Big Baby” Davis and Matt Barnes, have publicly questioned his abilities after their tenures on his teams ended. Rivers was once both the coach and general manager of the Clippers, but he was demoted from the latter role in August. He was regularly criticized for personnel decisions he made in that role, particularly the 2015 trade for his son Austin Rivers.

The Clippers were once one of the most exciting teams in the Western Conference, but they lost stars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin over the past year. Despite the lack of star power, the Clippers have stayed competitive, hovering around the 8th and final playoff spot in the West for most of the regular season. Hornacek, meanwhile, has a losing record as a head coach and the Knicks are in the middle of another disappointing season.