Suns interview former Knicks coach Mike Woodson for Kokoskov’s staff
May 22, 2018, 2:53 PM | Updated: 8:11 pm
Los Angeles Clippers assistant coach Mike Woodson in the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2018, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
The Phoenix Suns interviewed former Clippers assistant and Knicks head coach Mike Woodson on Tuesday, according to 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station’s John Gambadoro.
Woodson spent time with new Suns head coach Igor Kokoskov on the coaching staff of the Detroit Pistons in the 2003-04 season, where they won an NBA Championship. Woodson was taken on a tour of the facilities in Phoenix and met with players.
Woodson was the head coach of the Atlanta Hawks from 2004-10 and the New York Knicks from 2012-14. His total NBA head coaching record is 315-365.
In three different seasons, Woodson has coached a team to at least 47 wins. From 2009-2010, Woodson won 100 games over two seasons with Atlanta, a team led by former Suns swingman Joe Johnson, Josh Smith and Al Horford.
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Despite regular season success over two straight years, the Hawks won only one playoff series each year and did not make the Eastern Conference Finals. In 2010, they were swept by the Orlando Magic. Woodson’s contract was set to expire and the Hawks elected not to re-sign him, hiring Larry Drew.
Woodson was an assistant under former Suns head coach Mike D’Antoni in New York, and in mid-March of 2012, he was announced as the interim coach after D’Antoni resigned.
Following a record of 18-6 under Woodson, the Knicks named Woodson the team’s full-time head coach. In that first season, the Knicks won 54 games, the most New York had won since 1995. Still, though, Woodson could not get to the Eastern Conference Finals, losing in the semifinals to the Indiana Pacers in six games.
After a disappointing 37-win season the next year, Woodson was fired and joined the Clippers under Doc Rivers in September of 2014. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Woodson was leaving the Clippers on May 15.
In New York, Woodson coached current Suns center Tyson Chandler.
Woodson has been a coach in the NBA since 1996. He played in the league from 1980-91.
The Suns’ head coaching job is the first for the 46-year-old Kokoskov, who had been an NBA assistant coach since 2000.
