If Steve Mills and Scott Perry opt for an out-of-the-box hire, this would certainly classify as one.
Former All-Star Metta World Peace threw his name into the Knicks’ head coaching mix on Saturday, taking to Twitter to publicly express his desire for the job.
“I would love to be head coach for the @nyknicks,” World Peace wrote.
Since World Peace frequently jokes around on Twitter, it’s unclear just how serious the Queensbridge native actually is in his potential pursuit for the job.
The Knicks have already contacted Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson and Jerry Stackhouse regarding the team’s head coaching vacancy, sources told the Daily News’ Frank Isola.
While World Peace wouldn’t likely be considered a serious candidate by the Knicks regime, he does have a bit of coaching experience under his belt, having spent the last season as a player development coach with the South Bay Lakers, the Lakers’ G League affiliate.
World Peace, who spent one disappointing campaign with the Knicks in 2013-14, previously expressed his desire to go into coaching once his player career ended in an interview with the Los Angeles Daily News in 2015. World Peace received ringing endorsements from then-Lakers coach Byron Scott, Mavs coach Rick Carlisle and Kobe Bryant, among others.
“He’d be a good coach,” Bryant told the Los Angeles Daily News. “He’s extremely intelligent and communicates very well and is not afraid to hold guys accountable.”
World Peace may not be the most beloved hire by Knicks fans, having previously blamed the fans last year for the constant chaotic state of the Knicks.
“The city of New York is making it difficult, the fans. Everyone can blame Dolan if they want. Dolan is trying to satisfy the fans. Dolan shows his face every game, he sits in that front row seat and he has to hear all of this nonsense from the fans,” World Peace said. “I’m from New York. Until the fans change and support, like how they do in San Antonio, there is going to be a bunch of chaos. They need to stop blaming the players, and stop blaming the ownership, and the fans as a whole need to blame themselves.”
