ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Knicks have obtained permission to speak with Spurs assistant coach Will Hardy about their vacant head coaching job. The 32-year-old has served as an assistant coach under Gregg Popovich, moving into that role for the last four seasons after working his way up from a basketball operations internship to assistant video coordinator and then video coordinator.
Hardy also served as the coach for the Spurs' summer league team from 2015 to 2018 and was on the Team USA staff last summer for the FIBA World Cup.
Hardy joins a growing list of candidates expected to interview with Knicks team president Leon Rose. Tom Thibodeau remains the frontrunner for the position. Former head coaches Kenny Atkinson and Mike Woodson will interview for the job.
Rose could be searching along the Popovich coaching tree with Hardy and Ime Udoka, who is already reportedly in line for an interview. Udoka spent seven seasons on Popovich's staff before leaving last summer for the Philadelphia 76ers. One league source said that Becky Hammon, who has served on Popovich's staff since 2014, could also get an interview. Even Mike Miller, who is currently the Knicks' interim coach and will also interview for the permanent job, came through the Spurs organization, coaching their G League affiliate before joining the Knicks.
Other coaches who have been reported to be in the mix include Chicago assistant Chris Fleming and Orlando assistant Pat Delany.
The Knicks are expected to complete the process and put a coach in place before the July 30 restart of the NBA season.
