Kurt Rambis is now the face of the New York Knicks defense.
If you’re getting deja vu, you won’t be the only one. The Knicks named Rambis interim head coach last season after firing Derek Fisher, and now, under Jeff Hornacek, he’s being given more responsibility yet again. ESPN.com’s Marc Stein was the first with this news:
NBA coaching sources say the Knicks have put assistant Kurt Rambis in charge of the team's defense, New York's prime area of concern at 2-4.
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) November 8, 2016
Carmelo Anthony seem thrilled about the decision, per Barbara Barker of Newsday:
Carmelo on Rambis taking over defense: “Whether we’re comfortable with it or not, it is what it is so we have to buy into it." #Knicks
— Barbara Barker (@meanbarb) November 8, 2016
So, too, did Hornacek, per the New York Daily News‘ Stefan Bondy:
“It could’ve been anybody,” Horncaek said. “It could’ve been Jerry (Sichting), could have been Corey (Gaines). We all talk as a coaching staff about the same things, so Kurt had some of these guys last year. Just felt it was better to put him in that.”
These are hardly ringing endorsements, and Rambis’ reception wasn’t any better on social media, with plenty of people joking that he’ll be the head coach again in just a few months.
The Knicks, to be sure, need help on the defensive end. They rank dead last in points allowed per 100 possessions and get thrown off by the simplest motions. Putting someone in charge of that end of the floor makes sense.
But making Rambis that someone does not.
Though he found some defensive success as an architect of the Los Angeles Lakers’ schemes, his Minnesota Timberwolves were routinely terrible on that end. The Knicks also allowed more points per 100 possessions under him than they did under Fisher last year, according to NBA.com.
It would have made far more sense, then, for the Knicks to hire someone outside the organization at the moment, if only so they could have avoided this public relations nightmare—and, you know, handed these reins to someone who’s more qualified Rambis.
