# List of New York Knicks head coaches

The New York Knickerbockers are an American professional basketball team based in New York City. They are a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). They play their home games at Madison Square Garden. The franchise's official name "Knickerbockers" came from the style of pants Dutch settlers wore when they moved to America. Having joined the Basketball Association of America (BAA), the predecessor of the NBA, in 1946, the Knicks remain as one of the oldest teams in the NBA. During Red Holzman's tenure, the franchise won its only two NBA championships, the 1970 NBA Finals and the 1973 NBA Finals.
There have been 31 head coaches for the New York Knicks franchise. Holzman was the franchise's first Coach of the Year winner and is the team's all-time leader in regular season games coached, regular season games won, playoff games coached, and playoff games won. Holzman was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1986 as a coach. Besides Holzman, Rick Pitino, Don Nelson, Pat Riley, Lenny Wilkens, and Larry Brown have been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as coaches. Four coaches have been named to the list of the top 10 coaches in NBA history. Neil Cohalan, Joe Lapchick, Vince Boryla, Carl Braun, Eddie Donovan and Herb Williams have spent their entire coaching careers with the Knicks. Boryla, Braun, Harry Gallatin, Dick McGuire, Willis Reed and Williams formerly played for the Knicks.

## Key

| GC | Games coached |
| W | Wins |
| L | Losses |
| Win% | Winning percentage |
| # | Number of coaches |
| * | Spent entire NBA head coaching career with the Knicks |
| † | Elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach |

## Coaches

Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2023–24 season.
| # | Name | Term | GC | W | L | Win% | GC | W | L | Win% | Achievements |
| # | Name | Term | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | | Achievements | Reference |
| 1 | Neil Cohalan* | 1946–1947 | 60 | 33 | 27 | .550 | 5 | 2 | 3 | .400 | |
| 2 | Joe Lapchick* | 1947–1956 | 573 | 326 | 247 | .569 | 60 | 30 | 30 | .500 | |
| 3 | Vince Boryla* | 1956–1958 | 165 | 80 | 85 | .485 | — | — | — | — | |
| 4 | Andrew Levane | 1958–1959 | 99 | 48 | 51 | .485 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .000 | |
| 5 | Carl Braun* | 1959–1961 (as player-coach) | 127 | 40 | 87 | .315 | — | — | — | — | |
| 6 | Eddie Donovan* | 1961–1965 | 278 | 84 | 194 | .302 | — | — | — | — | |
| 7 | Harry Gallatin | 1965 | 63 | 25 | 38 | .397 | — | — | — | — | |
| 8 | Dick McGuire | 1965–1967 | 177 | 75 | 102 | .424 | 4 | 1 | 3 | .250 | |
| 9 | Red Holzman† | 1967–1977 | 783 | 466 | 317 | .595 | 95 | 54 | 41 | .568 | 1969–70 NBA Coach of the Year 2 championships (1970, 1973) One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history |
| 10 | Willis Reed | 1977–1978 | 96 | 49 | 47 | .510 | 6 | 2 | 4 | .333 | |
| — | Red Holzman† | 1978–1982 | 314 | 147 | 167 | .468 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .000 | One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history |
| 11 | Hubie Brown | 1982–1986 | 344 | 142 | 202 | .413 | 18 | 8 | 10 | .444 | |
| 12 | Bob Hill | 1986–1987 | 66 | 20 | 46 | .303 | — | — | — | — | |
| 13 | Rick Pitino† | 1987–1989 | 164 | 90 | 74 | .549 | 13 | 6 | 7 | .462 | |
| 14 | Stu Jackson | 1989–1990 | 97 | 52 | 45 | .536 | 10 | 4 | 6 | .400 | |
| 15 | John MacLeod | 1990–1991 | 67 | 32 | 35 | .478 | 3 | 0 | 3 | .000 | |
| 16 | Pat Riley† | 1991–1995 | 328 | 223 | 105 | .680 | 63 | 35 | 28 | .556 | 1992–93 NBA Coach of the Year One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history |
| 17 | Don Nelson† | 1995–1996 | 59 | 34 | 25 | .576 | — | — | — | — | One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history |
| 18 | Jeff Van Gundy | 1996–2001 | 420 | 248 | 172 | .590 | 69 | 37 | 32 | .536 | |
| 19 | Don Chaney | 2001–2004 | 184 | 72 | 112 | .391 | — | — | — | — | |
| 20 | Herb Williams* | 2004 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | — | — | — | — | |
| 21 | Lenny Wilkens† | 2004–2005 | 81 | 40 | 41 | .494 | 4 | 0 | 4 | .000 | One of the top 10 coaches in NBA history |
| — | Herb Williams* | 2005 | 43 | 16 | 27 | .372 | — | — | — | — | |
| 22 | Larry Brown† | 2005–2006 | 82 | 23 | 59 | .280 | — | — | — | — | |
| 23 | Isiah Thomas | 2006–2008 | 164 | 56 | 108 | .341 | — | — | — | — | |
| 24 | Mike D'Antoni | 2008–2012 | 288 | 121 | 167 | .420 | 4 | 0 | 4 | .000 | |
| 25 | Mike Woodson | 2012–2014 | 188 | 109 | 79 | .580 | 17 | 7 | 10 | .412 | |
| 26 | Derek Fisher* | 2014–2016 | 136 | 40 | 96 | .294 | — | — | — | — | |
| 27 | Kurt Rambis | 2016 | 28 | 9 | 19 | .321 | — | — | — | — | |
| 28 | Jeff Hornacek | 2016–2018 | 164 | 60 | 104 | .366 | — | — | — | — | |
| 29 | David Fizdale | 2018–2019 | 104 | 21 | 83 | .202 | — | — | — | — | |
| 30 | Mike Miller* | 2019–2020 | 44 | 17 | 27 | .386 | — | — | — | — | |
| 31 | Tom Thibodeau | 2020–present | 318 | 175 | 143 | .550 | 29 | 14 | 15 | .483 | 2020–21 NBA Coach of the Year |
* Red Holzman was the 1969–70 NBA Coach of the Year, and won 2 championships (1970, 1973).
* Rick Pitino was the coach for the Knicks from 1987 to 1989.
* Pat Riley was the coach for the Knicks from 1991 to 1995.
* Jeff Van Gundy was the coach for the Knicks from 1996 to 2001.
* Mike Woodson was the Knicks' head coach from 2012 to 2014.
* Jeff Hornacek was the Knicks head coach from 2016 to 2018.
* David Fizdale was the Knicks head coach from 2018 to 2019