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The New York Knicks are still searching for Tom Thibodeau's successor on the sidelines. There have been failures along the way in this part of New York's offseason journey, with multiple teams shooting down the Knicks' requests to interview their coaches for the job.
The Minnesota Timberwolves have one of New York's prospects, but it's not head coach Chris Finch, who has guided Anthony Edwards and company to back-to-back appearances in the Western Conference finals. Instead, it is Finch's assistant, Micah Nori, according to Shams Charania of ESPN.
“The New York Knicks are interviewing Minnesota Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori for the team's head coaching job, sources tell ESPN. Now three candidates – Nori and two former head coaches Mike Brown and Taylor Jenkins – have done formal interviews for the Knicks' vacancy,” Charania shared in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday morning.
The Knicks decided it was time to move in a different direction when it comes to the team's coaching following a deep run in the 2025 NBA Playoffs, where they got ousted in the Eastern Conference finals by Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers. In five seasons under Thibodeau's watch, New York reached the playoffs four times and reached at least the second round of the postseason thrice.
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While Nori lacks head coaching experience, he has an extensive NBA resume as part of several staffs in the pros. It also apparently did not discourage the Knicks from interviewing him.
Nori, who turned 51 years old in April, started his coaching career in the NBA with the Toronto Raptors when the team was still coached by Jay Triano in 2009. He later took his talents to the Sacramento Kings, Denver Nuggets and Detroit Pistons before landing a gig with the Timberwolves in 2021.
Nori isn't quite a familiar name yet among basketball fans, but he's earned some attention for his amusing interviews where he uses quotes from Ted Lasso, the character of the hit Apple TV show.
“I always laugh when I would watch, you know, interviews with assistant coaches,” Nori said in 2024 (h/t Amy Hockert of FOX 9). “And I feel bad because you kind of get the same question. So that's where it kind of came from. Just like in the 30 and 45 seconds, I thought two things. One, tell viewers the truth. You know what's really going on here. And then the other thing is to try to have a little bit of levity or humor, just, again, over the course of seven months and the monotony of the game, it's fun to break that up.”
