The New York Knicks coaching search took another twist with the franchise looking at Micah Nori.
Minnesota Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori has emerged as a new candidate for the vacant New York Knicks job.
Nori is set to interview for the post, with the New York Knicks working to find a replacement for Tom Thibodeau.
Thibodeau was fired despite leading the Knicks to the Eastern Conference Finals, with the team’s front office desiring a new approach.
Micah Nori is a wildcard option to add into the mix, and one who would have the support of three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic.
Micah Nori worked as an assistant on the Denver Nuggets between 2015 and 2018. He joined the team one year after Nikola Jokic was drafted in 2014.
Jokic was viewed as a project when he was drafted with the 41st pick, spending his 2014-15 season in Serbia.
This meant he finally arrived in Denver at the same time as Nori, who helped him acclimatize to basketball in the US.
Speaking to HoopsHype two years ago, Jokic explained that Nori was the coach who made him run drills at Summer League.
He added: “He really believed in me since day one.”
Speaking about their connection, Nori explained how Jokic’s inquisitive nature helped them bond early on, with his love for the game standing out.
He told Yahoo: “I was next to him for every film session, and we’d talk a little bit. And he honestly is a very quiet, very introverted person.
“But he’s very, very smart, very, very funny and we have the same sense of humor — very sarcastic — and he’s also self-deprecating, not afraid to laugh at himself.
“And the other thing was he’d just ask very good basketball questions. I was learning from him probably just as much as anything from me, at all.”
If the New York Knicks really want the inside track on Micah Nori, all they need to do is speak to Karl-Anthony Towns.
Towns worked under Nori for several seasons at the Minnesota Timberwolves, before the center was traded to the Knicks last October.
Nori is up against Mike Brown and Taylor Jenkins for the vacant Knicks position, becoming the third candidate to interview. But he may not be the last.
