Former Knicks Guard Calls For Assistant Coach's Promotion

Iman Shumpert wants the New York Knicks to become a family business.

Shumpert is the latest Manhattan alum to sound off on the team's active coaching vacancy, calling for the Knicks to promote associate head coach Rick Brunson to the top spot while covering Game 1 of the NBA Finals for ESPN.

"They're going to put Rick Brunson in there, I think it's time," Shumpert said when queried by host Vanessa Richardson (h/t New York Basketball on X). "Go ahead and let Rick do it. His son's already playing point guard. Head of the snake's extension of the head of the snake."

Iman Shumpert: "I don't know…They're gonna put Rick Brunson in there. I think it's time 🤷🏾‍♂️"

Brian Windhorst: "😏 I have not heard that yet…Whoever it is has to be a guy who has the respect of the locker room immediately. Veteran team that's designed to win now…" pic.twitter.com/dPip9nDh14
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) June 6, 2025

Brunson, of course, is the father of Knicks captain and All-Star Jalen. Both Brunsons received promotions over the offseason, as Rick took over the associate head coach spot vacated by Cleveland-bound Johnnie Bryant while Jalen was granted the team captaincy previously held by Willis Reed, Patrick Ewing and others.

Shumpert's suggestion came despite a report from Sam Amico of Hoops Wire claiming that players came to be unhappy with Rick Brunson on the bench, claiming that they felt he had "too big a say in things."

The elder Brunson's presence in New York has carried a hint of controversy: the Dallas Mavericks accused the Knicks of tampering when hiring him to the departed Tom Thibodeau's staff shortly before Jalen signed with the team in 2022 and a subsequent NBA investigation eventually removed a second-round draft pick from the Knicks' arsenal.

In November, the NBA launched a brief inquiry into Rick's promotion to top assistant, hinting that his new title was a de facto kickback for Jalen's famously discounted contract extension with the Knicks. A statement from MSG Sports labeled the accusation "offensive" and its subsequent investigation as "harassment of the Knicks due to [their] opposition to certain NBA matters."

ESPN insider Brian Windhorst stated that the next Knicks coach "has to be a guy who has the respect of the locker room immediately," a requirement that both he and Shumpert felt Rick Brunson carried.

"[They're] a veteran team that is designed to win now," Windhorst said of the Knicks. "Rick is a guy who would have the respect of the team, but I think it's going to be somebody who would walk in with that."

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