May 26, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA;Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch reacts against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first half during game four of the western conference finals for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

Reports: Knicks Denied Interviews With Current Coaches

Originally posted on New York Knicks on SI
By Geoff Magliocchetti | Last updated Jun 11, 2025 11:00 AM ET

When it comes to the New York Knicks' coaching search, the Minnesota Timberwolves wouldn't bite and the Houston Rockets called off the launch.

Reports of two teams denying the Knicks an opportunity to interview their active head coaches to fill the Manhattan vacancy emerged on Tuesday night: longtime New York sports radio host Mike Francesa reported that the Timberwolves refuse to let the Knicks near Chris Finch while Ian Begley of SNY revealed that the Rockets kept them away from Ime Udoka. The Udoka denial was previously reported by Kelly Iko of The Athletic.

All that and more, of course, complicates the Knicks' coaching conundrum, one that has left their top spot empty after the surprise ousting of five-year boss Tom Thibodeau. Finch previously worked with New York star Karl-Anthony Towns in Minneapolis while Udoka briefly spent part of his playing career on Madison Square Garden hardwood.

Knicks formally reached out to Rockets for permission to talk to head coach Ime Udoka and Rockets denied permission, per people familiar with Rockets’ stance. @MikeFrancesa said Knicks reached out to Minnesota and were denied permission to talk to Chris Finch. The Athletic’s…
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) June 11, 2025

These denials come shortly after Marc Stein and James Edwards III of the The Athletic previously declared that the Dallas Mavericks would refuse to let the Knicks interview Jason Kidd, Jalen Brunson's ex-supervisor in North Texas. Kidd, another former Knicks participant, appeared to be the early favorite for the job but Dallas apparently had enough of losing personnel to Manhattan.

As noted by Brian Windhorst of ESPN, the Knicks could be perhaps convince any of the men in charge that the grass is greener in Manhattan and land their services through a trade, but that might be a tough sell to the names mentioned, even with the team coming off their first Eastern Conference Finals showing a quarter-century.

Kidd is navigating the post-Luka Doncic wilderness in Dallas but at least has the consolation prize of getting to work with presumptive top pick Cooper Flagg. Finch and Udoka currently oversee surging powers out west: Finch has been to the Western Conference Finals on consecutive occasions with the Wolves while Udoka guided the Rockets to the second seed on the most recent bracket.

This article first appeared on New York Knicks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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