Report: Knicks Receive Permission to Discuss Head Coaching Vacancy With Clippers Assistant Mike Woodson

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Clippers have granted permission for assistant coach Mike Woodson to speak with the Knicks regarding their head coaching vacancy. The Knicks fired head coach Jeff Hornacek following their last regular-season game.

Woodson recently coached the Knicks for two full seasons in 2012-13 and 2013-14 before being fired and hired onto Doc Rivers’ staff in Los Angeles. After going 18-6 and losing in the first round as the interim head coach when Mike D’Antoni resigned in 2011-12, he went 54-28 in 2013, winning the Atlantic division and a playoff series in the Knicks’ most successful in almost 20 years. However, the next season, Woodson’s Knicks went just 37-45 and he was fired.

Now, after four unsuccessful seasons—each of which featured at least 50 losses—the Knicks are considering a return to Woodson, one of the NBA’s most high-profile assistants. Woodson was also the head coach of the Altanta Hawks for 6 seasons from 2005 to 2010, increasing his win total every season from 13 during his first year to 53 in his final year.

For Woodson’s part, he feels as though he has unfinished business in New York. He’s one of two Clippers assistants, along with Sam Cassell, who is expected to receive head coaching interest this summer.