Sources: Phil Jackson pushing for Knicks to keep Kurt Rambis

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The New York Knicks are giving strong consideration to making Kurt Rambis their full-time head coach, according to league sources.

Sources told ESPN.com that Rambis, who has served as the Knicks' interim coach since Derek Fisher was fired Feb. 8, is the preferred choice of team president ‎Phil Jackson, who sources say is pushing for a new multiyear deal for Rambis despite New York's 8-16 record since the coaching change.

Rambis worked two stints as an assistant coach to Jackson with the Los Angeles Lakers, joining him for four of his 11 championship rings, and has grown very close to Jackson thanks to that longstanding relationship. Sources say Jackson, who took his post with the Knicks in March 2014, has had a much more frequent presence at Knicks practices at home since Rambis took over.

With Jackson, 70, insisting that he can no longer handle the day-to-day rigors of coaching, sources say he sees Rambis as the coach best suited to not only run the triangle offense he favors but also manage the team using Jackson's long-held principles.

Jackson, of course, had similar hopes for Fisher, one of his longtime on-the-court leaders with the Lakers. But New York made the abrupt decision to fire Fisher just a season and a half into his five-year, $25 million deal to coach the Knicks, with Fisher sporting a record of 40-96.

Contributing to the timing of the move were a 1-9 skid after the Knicks' 22-22 start this season and concerns within the organization about a fractured coaching staff and the speed of Fisher's transition from player to coach, ESPN.com reported at the time. According to ESPN.com's Brian Windhorst, only the first four years of Fisher's contract were guaranteed, worth a total of $17 million.

The Knicks, though, have continued to fade since Fisher's ouster. They enter Wednesday's games at 31-47, though that includes an 0-9 record when star forward Carmelo Anthony hasn't played.

It remains to be seen how Anthony would respond to Rambis being elevated to full-time coach. Last month, Anthony said he hoped Jackson, in addition to considering Rambis, would open up the position and consider external candidates, with established names such as Tom Thibodeau, Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson all available ‎and possessing Knicks ties.

Jackson last publicly addressed the Knicks' coaching situation in March during the team's West Coast road trip and said then that Rambis is "perfectly capable" of coaching the club on a full-time basis.

"Kurt and I have a relationship that goes back to 2001," Jackson said. "He knows the ins and outs, what pleases me and [what] probably I want to have changed. ... We have a relationship that's much more tight [than Jackson's relationship with Fisher]."

If Rambis lands the permanent job, it would be his second full-time coaching stint in the NBA after a two-season run with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2009-10 and 2010-11. Rambis posted a 32-132 record in those two seasons with the Wolves following a 24-13 stint as the Lakers' interim coach during the 1998-99 season that was shortened to 50 games because of a lengthy lockout.
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Sources: Rambis is Phil's preferred choice in NY

Why isn't this an official smiley yet?
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ALonelyDad

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He is just looking out for his friends. He got the big contract himself, and then gave his friend Fisher a big contract, gave Vujacic who hasn't played in the NBA since like 2010 a contract, and now Kurt Rambis. Look for him to give Bynum the max next season.
 
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The triangle will never work in New York.
They don't have the players for it, and the league plays a different kind of game these days.

And what are they going to do this offseason? Rumors were that they'd go hard after Mike Conley but he's gonna be out for a long time now.
They've got bigger problems than Kurt Rambis.

I don't think they're ever going to win anything as long as Dolan owns the team.
 
Trip

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The conspiracy in me says he wants Rambis for another year because he knows the Knicks aren't going to be good again next year, especially without a pick and it's basically a way to force Carmelo out. Also Afflalo too.

The problem is playing chicken with Melo has proven to be fruitless. He's not leaving New York with that golden parachute contract and little pressure to win.
 
Trip

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Raul said:
The triangle will never work in New York.
They don't have the players for it, and the league plays a different kind of game these days.

And what are they going to do this offseason? Rumors were that they'd go hard after Mike Conley but he's gonna be out for a long time now.
They've got bigger problems than Kurt Rambis.

I don't think they're ever going to win anything as long as Dolan owns the team.
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Dolan will forever be the problem with the Knicks.
 
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