Another coach turned down the New York Knicks again.
Indiana Pacers assistant coach Mike Weinar has removed himself from consideration for a front-of-the-bench role in Mike Brown’s coaching staff, according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Post, citing family reasons and loyalty to Rick Carlisle.
SNY’s Ian Begley first reported about Weinar’s conversations with the Knicks.
Weinar started working with Carlisle in 2008 as a Special Assistant to the Head Coach. His head coaching experience includes leading the Dallas Mavericks to the 2017 Orlando Summer Pro League Championship and to the playoffs of the 2019 NBA Summer League.
Getty Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers reacts from the bench with assistant coaches Jenny Boucek and Mike Weinar during Game Three of the 2025 NBA Finals.
If the Knicks want to mirror the Pacers’ pace and space style of play that lifted them to the NBA Finals, Weinar would have been the man for the job.
Weinar is the latest assistant coach to turn down the opportunity to join the Knicks.
Former Knicks guard Pablo Prigioni also rejected the Knicks and elected to remain with the Minnesota Timberwolves, citing family reasons, according to Begley.
Before Prigioni and Weinar, the Knicks previously targeted New Orleans associate head coach James Borrego, Dallas Mavericks assistant Jay Triano, among others, for an assistant position under Brown, according to Begley, but failed.
Remaining Top Candidate
With Weinar out, that leaves Charlotte Hornets assistant coach Chris Jent as the sole candidate to helm the Knicks’ offense.
SiriusXM’s NBA Radio host Frank Isola previously reported that Jent is the leading candidate.
Jent had a brief stint with the Knicks during the 1996-97 season. He appeared in only three games, averaging 2.0 points.
Jent was also on Brown’s coaching staff in Cleveland from 2006 to 2009. He recently guided the Charlotte Hornets to the NBA Summer League title in Las Vegas — the first championship of any kind for the franchise.
Getty Head coach Chris Jent of the Charlotte Hornets looks on in the first half of a 2025 NBA Summer League game against the Dallas Mavericks.
The 55-year-old Jent has been working as an assistant coach in the NBA since 2003. He once coached the Orlando Magic in an interim capacity during the 2004-05 season and logged a 5-13 win-loss record. His other head coaching experience was in the NBA D League (now G League) with the Bakersfield Jam (now the Motor City Cruise) during the 2015-16 season.
Jent is the most experienced assistant coach on the Hornets staff.
Defensive Coordinator Locked In?
While the Knicks’ offensive coordinator role has yet to be filled up, Los Angeles Clippers assistant coach Brendan O’Connor is closing in on becoming the defensive coordinator, according to Isola.
“O’Connor worked as a Knicks assistant under Larry Brown and has close ties to Knicks executive William Wesley,” Isola reported on X.
Wesley, known as “World Wide Wes,” was a power broker behind the scenes during Brown’s coaching stints in Detroit and Philadelphia.
Bondy confirmed Isola’s report and added that O’Connor will serve as the defensive coordinator and not an associate head coach.
The Knicks are looking to add an offensive and defensive coordinator to join Rick Brunson, Jalen’s father, as Brown’s top lieutenants.
The elder Brunson will no longer be the Knicks’ lead assistant coach, a position he held last season, according to Bondy.
“Mike Brown is expected to hire a new associate head coach, The Post has learned, a move that will change the dynamics in the front of the Knicks bench by giving Rick Brunson a lesser role,” Bondy wrote on July 8.
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