Ad Disclosure
The Buzz is that Jay Wright Does Not Want the Knicks Job
Published:
The Knicks fired Tom Thibodeau on Tuesday, immediately leading to speculation that Jay Wright would end his retirement to coach his former Villanova players and finish the job.
But “not so fast my friends,” as the great Lee Corso would say.
All of the buzz from the various college basketball people suggests that Wright has no interest in the gig:
Fanta: “I will forever say this, and I was on your show the night that Jay Wright retired, if Jay Wright wanted to coach, he’d be coaching at Villanova. He would be coaching down the street… That man is making millions upon millions upon millions of dollars, both in a consulting role with Villanova and drinking with Bill Raftery doing college basketball for CBS Sports. I just don’t think that Jay Wright now wants to jump back into something, the challenge, the weight, the stress, the stress of coaching, knowing that the standard is you gotta win a championship. You gotta snap this long and starved drought in New York City. I don’t think it’s realistic.”
Yep. Makes sense. Jay Wright has a great gig. He has told everyone that he is enjoying himself and currently content with what he’s doing. There have been plenty of openings at both the collegiate and NBA level in recent years and he has not jumped at any of them, so this is one of those rare cases where you take the guy at face value and believe what he tells you. And no, honestly is not the hallmark of a typical college coach, as we’ve seen plenty of times in the past, but Jay Wright isn’t your typical college coach (read: slimeball). He’s not Darian DeVries.
We had Jay on the podcast about a year and a half ago, so it’s been some time, but he said this in November of 2023:
I’ve never retired before (laughs), so I know enough to know that things change in life. But honestly, right now, I enjoy not coaching. I don’t miss it. I love going to watch games. I love being able to go to Eagles games, go to Phillies games, watch the games… But I’m really enjoying doing all of the other things that, when I was coaching, I was so obsessed and 100% in, that I really didn’t get to enjoy the other things in life. Like this Thanksgiving was the first time I was home for the whole Thanksgiving. What a great holiday man, watching games. Never did that before… I don’t really see anything (missing in life), but maybe in two years I get bored, I’m really not bored now and enjoying this.
No doubt, and listen, to Fanta’s other point – why would you want to coach this Knicks team anyway? The honeymoon period is over. The expectations are high. No amount of Jalen Brunson foul grifting will get that team over the hump and into the finals. They’re basically the Sixers at this point. Do you see the Knicks getting back to the ECF next year?
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com