There is a faction of Knicks fans, and a sizable one, which will be undeniably happy beginning right now, assuming it’s true Jeff Hornacek has become the prime target of Phil Jackson’s coaching search.
The ABK sect would be giddy.
As in: Anyone But Kurt.
Kurt Rambis’ time as Knicks interim coach — an inglorious 9-19 slog through the latter third of a grossly uninspiring season — would belong to the history books if this happens, if Hornacek is hired, if Jackson turns the keys — or at least the key chain — over to a player who is not a branch (not even a twig) of his coaching tree.
That means half of the equation necessary for Jackson’s choice not to be a complete fiasco will have been fulfilled: that Rambis and his 65-164 lifetime record as an NBA coach will be, at worst, nudged a few seats down the bench, back to the anonymous ranks of assistants who carry clipboards and muted opinions.
That will carry the day for a while, because the longer this coaching search took, the more it seemed likely — inevitable on some days — that Jackson was going to keep Rambis as his head coach, despite the mountain of compelling evidence that screamed Rambis was in over his head. So that problem, at the least, will be solved.
Then we can all turn our attention to Hornacek.
There is a lot to like about him. He was a terrific player, good enough that the one time his orbit and Jackson’s ever crossed was back in the late ’90s when Jackson tried to facilitate a deal to bring him to Chicago from Philadelphia. That never quite happened — Hornacek wound up with the Jazz, the Bulls got Ron Harper, and their lone interaction was in the handshake lines at the end of back-to-back NBA Finals.
Hornacek has had his moments as a coach. Three years ago, he led the Suns to 48 wins a year after they had managed just 25. Because the Suns existed in what was then a hellacious Western Conference, that wasn’t enough to qualify them for the playoffs, but the Suns were a favorite of the NBA League Pass crowd — led by Goran Dragic, Eric Bledsoe and the Morris twins.
That things went sideways for Hornacek in Phoenix only emphasizes there still is much work to be done for the man who would hire him. As players were dealt away and went down with injury, things became bad in the desert. About a week before Jackson fired Derek Fisher this year, the Suns let Hornacek go.
Frank Vogel was still the better play here, and remains the best available candidate of all the people Jackson thus far has talked to. But the mere fact Jackson has gotten this far along with Hornacek hints — at the least — that maybe he is expanding the parameters not only of whom he will hire, but what he will allow that hire to do once he is on the job.
Which would be remarkable, when you really think about it.
Will Hornacek sell one ticket, convince even one Knicks fan that a corner has been turned and contention awaits? He won’t, and he shouldn’t. The heaviest lifting for Jackson remains finding good players to fill his roster, which is why the question that will stay with him every day will be what to do with Carmelo Anthony, since Melo remains the most obvious way the team can add assets it so desperately needs.
What Jackson does, moving Hornacek to the head of the line, is stave off the torches and the pitchforks among rank-and-file fans who don’t exactly see the genius hiding within Rambis that Jackson apparently does. For now.
ABK will heave a sigh of relief. But only a temporary one. The real work starts now.