In Charles Oakley’s mind, the next Knicks coach shouldn’t necessarily be Mark Jackson.
Oak’s nominees? Herb Williams or Patrick Ewing.
Last night at a screening for Oakley’s cooking television show (yep, that’s right), the former Knicks forward did offer some praise of Jackson, the job’s frontrunner. Oakley, though, certainly endorsed Ewing and particularly Williams more.
Oakley also blasted Isiah Thomas, claimed the Knicks are considering the wrong coaching qualifications, and hinted Ewing would be willing to serve as Williams’ assistant should Williams get the head job.
“[Williams] would bring just as much as Lenny Wilkens brought here. More than Isiah. No question,” Oakley said. “All he needs is a chance. I think they should give him a chance because every time they’ve asked him to do something, he’s done it over the years. Interim coach, he’s done it. Coached after the season, he’s done it. So what’s left besides giving him a chance?
“I think that you should start with what you’ve got here and take a good look. He’s been there every time you called. You got sick, he went and got the medicine to make you better.”
Asked further whether he believed Williams should be the coach, Oakley replied, “I think he should be. Or bring Patrick back. Patrick at least [was] assistant coach three or four years. Mark in the studio with NBC, whatever. So I don’t know. I don’t know how they pick coaches these days.”
Oakley said Thomas’ firing was long overdue: “He should have gotten fired a couple years ago.”
In fact, Oakley said he believes Williams was more deserving of being coach than Thomas, Wilkens or Larry Brown.
“They should have [given] Herb the job,” Oakley said. “That was embarrassing to bring [Thomas] to New York. What he’s done over the last five years for the team is garbage.”
Oakley said he’s spoken to Ewing about coaching, claiming, “He said, yeah, he’ll come and coach. He said if Herb gets here, he’ll go with Herb. But I don’t know who’s picking it.”
For whatever it’s worth, Oakley – cooking show aside – said he potentially would be interested in coaching somewhere “if the right guy gets the head coaching job and I can work my way with them.”
So perhaps if Williams or Ewing got the Knicks job, Oakley would be an assistant coaching possibility. Oakley said Jackson would need to set a firm tone here in order to be successful. “Mark was a great player,” Oakley said. “He’s a point guard. I think that Isiah was a point guard, but he couldn’t get across, so I think Mark would have to come in with a real strong demeanor and let ’em know that he’s going to be the coach, it’s going to be his way. Not try to make friends, you’re trying to win. You’ve got to get ’em out of the basement to at least the kitchen.”
Pardon the cooking show pun, of course.
“I think New York management is looking for the wrong thing in a coach,” he said. “They’re looking for somebody who in the past, who already won championships and this and that. It’s good to have that but they’ve got to know how to deal with the players, and because you win a championship doesn’t mean they’re going to just win one because you come here.”
Oakley is executive producing and starring as the cook on a TV show he’s trying to pitch called “Café Oakley,” and last night’s screening featured three episodes (one of which guest starred John Starks).
Oakley cooked Oak’s Fried Chicken and Macaroni Salad in the first episode, followed by Oak’s Pasta, Sauce and Sausages in the second, and Oak’s Smothered Steak and Rice in the third. “Hopefully we’ll get some calls about it,” Oakley said. “I’d give it an 8.5 out of 10.”