THE Knicks officially introduced Leon Rose as team president exactly four years ago, without any of the fanfare that accompanied other recent front office changes within the organization, signaling the start of an era that saw New York learn from past mistakes.
Even though we already have I knew at the time that Rose was nothing more than guaranteed to assume the presidential position, the team made things official on Monday, March 2, 2020, with a relatively standard speech. Press release with a minimal format that has been used for years till date.
The ordinary manner in which the news was announced made it an exceptional move by the Knicks, who, prior to this kind of announcement, had held extravagant press conferences and made grand proclamations about how they were going to such and such a moment to form a winner.
It never worked out for the Knicks. This new approach to business, while not resulting in a coveted title for decades, is looking pretty good and the best is yet to come from the hiring and appointment of Rose.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed that day, but a few months after it became official, details were revealed. Marc Stein, then The New York Timesshared them (h/t NBC Sports).
“I’m told Rose’s annual salary is in the range of $8 million,” he wrote in his November 2020 newsletter.
What we did know on March 2, however, was that the Knicks were not going to hold a press conference to announce the hiring (h/t Adrien Wojnarowski) and that Rose then declared that he was going to take a patient approach, with no major decision coming immediately.
No press conference for new Knicks president Leon Rose, source says. He will attend the Rockets-Knicks game tonight at MSG. His plan is to stay behind the scenes at first, observing/listening and staying away from major public proclamations.
–Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 2, 2020
Although Rose remained relatively quiet and didn’t show his hand, season ticket holders were treated to a note from the new team president with a few more details about how he intended to run the show, sent by email.
In the note that the Knicks finally published on their official website PR Twitter account, Rose bragged about his “25-plus years” of working in and around the NBA, and detailed it for the rest of this season. He planned to “work tirelessly behind the scenes while evaluating all aspects of the organization.”
Rose notably thanked Mike Miller for his “continued leadership and professionalism during this time.” He also gave a tip of the hat to his fallen predecessor Steve Mills and current colleague Scott Perry by touting that the Knicks have “young talent, significant future assets (including seven first-round picks over the next four years) and great financial flexibility. In the years to come.”
In a very interesting part of her article, Rose wrote, “Nothing about this is easy or quick, so I ask that you continue to be patient,” which has certainly proven true over the four last years. “What I promise you in return is that I will be honest and frank. We will develop a plan that makes sense, both to restart our short-term growth and ensure our long-term success,” he added.
This all sounded pretty nice, but we here at P&T HQ were still on the fence about it, because it sounded as nice as ziplining in Congo– only before you know it, mosquitoes are sucking your blood, monkeys are stealing your food and your loved one is gone to an unknown place while you wonder why you even decided to go on vacation to the ‘foreign, especially as the coronavirus spreads like melted butter on your morning toast.
Now, if you’ve been following Posting & Toasting for a few years (thanks!), you know that all of the above is just a bunch of letters copied and pasted lightly edited in order to prepare a news article on the blog (slow news Saturday, yes).
Congratulation to BennyBuckets71 for writing the original article in as much detail as he did, dropping over 1,200 words while he was at it. The OG post was so great that our writer even discussed many different stories related to Rose’s hiring and what could happen next regarding New York Knicks basketball.
Let me continue to copy and paste the original words because that’s what I get paid to do.
There are rumors that Rose could bring back Carmelo Anthony next season
“This is the story that will never go away until Melo retires, and even then it wouldn’t be shocking to see people saying he should come back to be a veteran Knicks player” , was the original introduction to this paper. section.
We now know that didn’t happen, but we also read some commenters dropping short messages earlier this season calling for Rose to take Melo off the streets, if only to give him the goodbyes that he deserved and never got. Crazy crystal ball stuff, right?
Did you know that Rose is friends with Tom Thiboeau?
“Thibs was mentioned as a potential training candidate since the very second Mills was licensed reassigned, alongside other former NBA coaches like Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson, among others,” was the original intro.
Nailed it.
Léon Rose has been close to Tom Thibodeau for two decades. If a coaching change is made, Thibodeau would be among the favorites. Thibs has 106 games above .500 during his NBA head coaching career. For comparison, the Knicks have won a total of 144 games over the last six seasons.
– Frank Isola (@TheFrankIsola) March 2, 2020
Frank Isola Athleticism shared information and he thought four years ago that Thibs, in fact, would eventually take the head coaching job. On target !
“Rumors are rumors, so it’s certainly possible that the Thibs noise will eventually die down, but it seems likely that the Knicks will try to grab someone with experience, instead of keeping Miller or hire another neophyte,” wrote our collaborator.
The author also mentions Patrick Ewing, who coached the team at the time Georgetown Hoyas and he is now sitting at home after to be fired almost exactly one year ago, on March 9, 2023, by Big East College.
Will Ewing be hired once Thibs is fired? Who knows! “Maybe Rose wants someone with more experience as an NBA head coach, but it would be really nice to one day see Ewing roaming the sidelines at Madison Square Garden as coach of his old team”, BennyBuckets71 wrote.
Frank Ntilikina says Rose can be trusted
“I know Léon, very professional in what he does. He’s a good guy. We can trust him, I think,” Frank Ntilikina said of Rose, according to Peter Botte of New York Post. “We all want what’s best for the team. So we are all heading in the same direction.
This raised the question of whether or not these comments meant Ntilikina still had a chance to make the roster for the 2021 season. “Maybe,” our writer wrote. “To be frank, we don’t know anything at the moment. But with another lost season coming to a close, it’s okay to be cautiously optimistic that this could be the time the Knicks get it right.
Did that mean the Knicks should have kept Frank or let him go? Be the judge!
