US reporter: Knicks selects coaches to target former Grizzlies coach Jenkins and former Kings coach Brown

June 14th, according to well-known sports reporter Ian Begley, the Knicks head coach's search for jobs is still continuing and is expected to continue until next week. Currently, two key candidates emerge in the New York shortlist: former Memphis Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins and former Sacramento Kings coach Mike Brown.

Ian Begley said at least one coach benefited financially about the Knicks' rejection of their application for communication with the current coach - that is, the Knicks' interest gave that coach a raise or contract renewal. Previous news pointed out that the Knicks are not in a hurry to make decisions in the process of finding a new coach and are widely inspecting potential candidates.

Jenkins, who was only 40 years old, was fired by the Grizzlies with nine games left in the regular season in 2024-25. At that time, his record was 44 wins and 29 losses, which shocked the entire basketball circle. You know, he was the fifth longest coach in the NBA at that time. Jenkins' total coaching record is 250 wins and 214 losses (win rate 53.9%). The peak of his coaching career occurred in the 2021-22 season, when he led the Grizzlies to a record of 56 wins and 26 losses, advanced to the playoffs as the second seed in the Western Conference, and finally stopped in the divisional semi-finals and lost to the final champion Warriors.

55-year-old Brown is also the coach who was fired during the season. He led the team to 48 wins and 34 losses in the first season of the 2022-23 season and successfully entered the playoffs. However, in the subsequent season (2023-24), the Kings failed to advance to the playoffs with 46 wins and 36 losses, and after a bad start to the season with 13 wins and 18 losses, Brown was fired early by the team.

Brown served as an assistant coach from 1997 to 2005, and then received his first head coaching opportunity to coach the Cavaliers and work with young LeBron James. He achieved 305 wins and 187 losses in six seasons with the Cavaliers, with a playoff record of 42 wins and 29 losses, and led the team to the NBA Finals in 2007, but was eventually swept by the Spurs. After being dismissed from the Cavaliers, Brown coached the Lakers for two seasons, during which he led the team to 41 wins and 25 losses and entered the playoffs. But he was fired after only five games in the 2012-13 season.

After that, he spent six seasons with the Golden State Warriors as an assistant coach before moving to the Kings as head coach.