Leon Rose had to know he was walking into the challenge of a lifetime.
The new president of the New York Knicks is running a team which hasn’t reached the playoffs since 2013. The next head coach hired will be the franchise’s sixth in the last six years.
Stability? There’s been none.
Consistency? Well, there’s been plenty of losing — so, there’s always that.
But when Rose took this job, he had to know it would become his greatest professional challenge. He’s trusted with a task many before him have tried and failed.
Steve Mills had the ear of team owner James Dolan, until the losing finally caught up to him.
Phil Jackson couldn’t let go of the triangle offense and didn’t want to do the one thing we know he’s good at — coach. But, as team president, he managed to escape town with the rest of his five-year, $60 million contract.
The Knicks don’t need a quick-fix and they don’t need another popular name calling the shots. They need someone willing to roll their sleeves up and commit to the mission.
Rose has signed on to oversee a mammoth undertaking. He had to know he signed up for Mission: Impossible.
Rose is also transitioning from successful player agent to basketball executive.
To take on a mammoth undertaking, it helps to have done it before. Rose helped build a sports agency powerhouse from the ground up.
Rose has more than 25 years of experience on his resume. That’s years of connections and relationships built up over time. It’s also years of lessons learned from those connections and relationships.
To pull off this job, Rose will need to lean on those experiences. He’ll need to use those lessons learned as a tool to rebuild the Knicks.
Because if he’s able to pull this off, he’ll become a made man inside Madison Square Garden.
And no one needs to tell this to Rose. Because he’s been around the block long enough to already know it.
Rose is a native of Cherry Hill, New Jersey. He knows the Knicks don’t want to be the punchline to a joke anymore. He knows they’re in need of more wins and less broken promises.
Knicks’ fans are passionate about their team. In recent years, yet, their patience has shown signs of wearing thin. Because with every new beginning, there’s a new promise of a better tomorrow.
The words, after awhile, become that — words.
But in order for Rose to deliver on his turn at promising a better tomorrow, he’ll need time.
That’s why it was smart of him to ask the fans for patience. He pledged in his letter to do all that he can to bring winning basketball back to New York. Because if you show the fans you know what your’e doing, they’ll meet you halfway.
He’ll need help — qualified help. It has to be the type of help he can lean on at crucial points in the process.
Rose retained general manager Scott Perry and came to terms with him on a one-year deal for 2020-21. Perry served in the same capacity for Steve Mills.
Brock Aller will be Rose’s vice president of basketball and strategic planning. Walt Perrin will be an assistant general manager overseeing college scouting. Frank Zanin will be an assistant general manager overseeing pro scouting.
They’ll bring experience to the room. The type of experience Rose doesn’t have on his resume as a basketball executive. This is a crucial step in the process.
Soon, Rose and his staff will begin the search for a head coach. The list of potential candidates are intriguing.
Tom Thibodeau reportedly is the early favorite. Former Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson is in the mix. Interim coach Mike Miller deserves serious consideration for the job.
Rose is already in the door and at the head of the table. He’s assigning seats to that table. He’ll have their experience to lean on. He’ll also have his 25-plus years as a business executive, mover, and shaker.
Rose will need everything his staff brings to that table. He’ll need to have the right person on the sideline to coach up his team.
Because this is a mammoth undertaking. It’s about over 20 years of excuses, futility, and inconsistency. It’s about finding the right person that can finally stop the bleeding.
If Rose pulls this off, he’s a made man inside “The World’s Most Famous Arena”.
If he pulls it off.
