Kendrick Perkins names ‘the only coach’ who is right for the vacant New York Knicks job

Kendrick Perkins explains why bringing back Jeff Van Gundy is the right decision for the New York Knicks

Being home to some of the most passionate NBA fans, coaching the Knicks is not everyone’s cup of tea. As a result, Perkins isn’t a fan of the Knicks targeting Taylor Jenkins, Mike Brown, or Michael Malone for the job.

Instead, he urged the franchise to bring back Jeff Van Gundy, who had already served as the team’s head coach for seven seasons.

“You gotta go upgrade, you can’t fire Thibs and go backwards. All of a sudden you talk about interviewing Taylor Jenkins and Mike Brown. You [are] going backwards,” Perkins said on Gil’s Arena.

He added: “You gotta have a _______ in there who gonna be able to handle the New York media. They don’t want no action with Michael Malone for whatever the past, or whatever didn’t happen.

“I don’t even know. But the only coach to me that’s right for that job right now is Jeff Van Gundy. Bring Jeff Van Gundy back.”

For context, during Van Gundy’s first stint with the Knicks, he led them to a 420-248 record over seven seasons.

That included a run to the 1999 NBA Finals, where the Knicks suffered a crushing 4-1 defeat at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs.

Kendrick Perkins claims the New York Knicks rushed into firing Tom Thibodeau

In the last five seasons, the Knicks transformed from a mediocre team to a championship contender under coach Thibodeau.

Although losing to the Pacers in the ECF was disappointing, Perkins believes the Knicks rushed into sacking coach Thibodeau.

“Once you end a run like they had going to the Eastern Conference Finals, and they felt like they should have beaten the Pacers, emotions come into play,” Perkins continued.

In addition, Big Perk pointed out the Knicks’ mistake in the hiring process to replace Thibs.

“They should have taken at least about a week before they even started having interviews with people, bro, you know I’m saying, you don’t just have interviews with the players right then, emotions are high ___ like that.”

It’s hard to argue against Perkins on this one, as the Knicks fans are growing restless. The fanbase went as far as sarcastically reacting to Ime Udoka signing an extension with the Houston Rockets, claiming the Knicks led to the decision.