Golden State Warriors legend Draymond Green has already been proven right once when it comes to Taylor Jenkins, but the New York Knicks could be headed for the same mistake despite the warnings of the veteran forward.
A trip to the Eastern Conference Finals wasn't enough for the Knicks who swiftly acted to remove head coach Tom Thibodeau, having now since been rejected by multiple teams in their pursuit of interviewing a range of current head coaches around the league.
Taylor Jenkins could be the Knicks next head coach
Jenkins is one candidate the Knicks won't have to seek permission to interview, with the Memphis Grizzlies having sensationally fired the 40-year-old in March despite holding a positive 44-29 record at the time.
With the Knicks coaching role now vacant, ESPN's Shams Charania reported on Friday that the Knicks plan to meet with Jenkins next week. They're also set to meet with former long-time Warrior assistant coach Mike Brown who was fired by the Sacramento Kings in late December, much to the anger of many around the league.
While Green may have an affinity for Brown who helped Golden State to three championships as an assistant in 2017, 2018 and 2022, he's far less fond of Jenkins in one of the rare opposition player-coach feuds in the league.
Jenkins was critical of a foul Green made on rookie center Zach Edey earlier this season, only for the Warrior veteran to quickly respond emphatically in suggesting the Grizzlies would never go deep in the playoffs so long as Jenkins was at the helm.
"But you got Taylor Jenkins, oh, who’s a softy, who goes out, and at some point, you’d hope to think we’d beat y’all in the NBA Finals -- not in the Finals, though, because they ain’t getting there. Not with him," Green exclaimed on his podcast.
Green was hilariously proven right given Jenkins was fired just months later, with the Grizzlies going on to lose 4-0 in the first-round of the playoffs after losing to the Warriors in the 7-8 Play-In Tournament game.
While Green is yet to comment on the potential hiring in New York, it's fair to say he wouldn't be a fan of the move after suggesting Memphis' second-round series loss to Golden State in 2022 came because Jenkins was "too emotional."
There's plenty of conjecture surrounding the Knicks right now, with suggestions the franchise could look to trade All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns after only just acquiring him from the Minnesota Timberwolves on the eve of this season.
Jenkins had a .539 win-loss percentage in his nearly six seasons with the Grizzlies, but won just one playoff series across his tenure in 2022 before losing to the eventual champion Warriors. If he does win the top role in New York, there will be nowhere to hide at a franchise that's still looking to win their first championship since 1973.