A couple old Knicks friends are up for coaching gigs

Hey, here's a thing for a quiet afternoon (no word yet on workouts for Wednesday): Two legends-- one a Knick legend, the other a legend who spent his final year with the Knicks-- have either been hired or are very close to being hired by other teams.

The first and less interesting thing is that Patrick Ewing will join the Bobcats as an assistant coach. After a year or so out of the league following his time in Orlando, Ewing angled mostly for head coaching gigs-- reportedly rejecting New York's offer to make him head coach of the Erie BayHawks along the way-- but evidently didn't feel like pursuing that goal any longer. He'll work under Steve Clifford and, of course, Michael Jordan in Charlotte. Cool. Congratulations, Patrick.

The second and more interesting-- but also incomplete-- thing involves Jason Kidd and the Nets. The notion that Brooklyn would interview Kidd for a head coaching gig seemed inconsequential at first, but now his hiring sounds inevitable. I find the whole thing interesting from my Knicksly perspective because:

1. It would be most eerie to watch Mike Woodson run his system against a guy who very recently played a substantial role in said system.

2. Kidd always struck me as a player thriving off preternatural senses, especially in his final years. In my estimation, Kidd just got so many of the game's intricacies-- things he may never have formally learned and couldn't necessarily convey. That characterization usually applies to guys who thrive off athletic ability alone, but even Kidd's tactical, psychological feats seemed more instinctive than fundamental. He made plays not by doing The Right Thing, but by improvising exactly the right thing for that instance. I've come to regard Kidd-- even at 40-- as more savant than erudite.

So yeah, it's always fascinating to see if and how an athlete can project his expertise when stuck behind the sideline, and I think that's especially so for someone as innately gifted as Kidd. Maybe I'm cheapening the amount of teaching that went into Kidd's growth as a player and underestimating his ability to replicate it, but I just didn't expect Kidd to be a viable candidate to run an entire team-- a very good one, at that-- so soon after his retirement. If Kidd's hiring does come to pass, I will be intrigued, as a basketball fan, to see if it works. As a petty, childish Knicks fan who loathes the Nets, I will be hopeful it does not.

But that thing is not done yet. The first thing sounds like it is, though. And I'm bored with a few hours left until Game 3 and figured you might be, too, so here's a place to talk about it all.

Update: It's happening.