4 days ago
Former Lakers champion says he'd be 'perfect' as Knicks head coach
Former Lakers champion says he'd be 'perfect' as Knicks head coach
When this season started, plenty of people felt the New York Knicks were legitimate championship contenders. That sentiment intensified after the Knicks upset the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics in stunning fashion in the second round of the playoffs.
But they then got eliminated by the Indiana Pacers in six games in the Eastern Conference finals, and on Tuesday, they fired Tom Thibodeau after he had been their head coach for the past five seasons. This will therefore be a big offseason for them, as they could end up hiring the head coach who will guide them to their first world title since 1973.
Metta Sandiford-Artest had a long and successful career as a two-way forward in the league, and he won it all with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2010. He took to X (formerly Twitter) and boldly declared that he's the "perfect choice" to be the Knicks' next head coach.
Sandiford-Artest came to the Lakers in 2009, and at the time, he was considered the ultimate loose cannon across the league, especially after he was the central figure in the infamous "Malice at the Palace" incident in the fall of 2004. However, he helped them win the NBA championship in his first season with them, and he became a beloved figure, especially after undertaking a number of community-oriented initiatives, particularly in the field of mental health.
He left the Lakers in 2013 and spent half a season with the Knicks. After a couple of brief stints overseas, he returned to the Lakers in 2015 for his final two NBA seasons.
His only real coaching experience is as a player development coach with the G League's South Bay Lakers during the 2017-18 campaign.
The Knicks will likely want to turn to someone who has plenty of experience to be their next head coach. But perhaps Artest, who grew up in the borough of Queens and played his college ball at St. John's University, could convince their next head coach to give him a job as an assistant.
