Mike Woodson is making a comeback in the NBA.
The ex-Knicks coach has been appointed associate head coach for the Sacramento Kings, working alongside Doug Christie, as announced on Wednesday. This news came from ESPN’s Shams Charania.
At 67, Woodson steps back into the league after four years leading the Indiana Hoosiers, which ended when he resigned after last season.
During his time with Indiana, the team had an 82-53 record but fell short of expectations, missing the NCAA tournament for the last two seasons despite being a strong program. They’ve only made two tournament appearances in the past 32 rounds, which—honestly—seems a bit disappointing for such a storied team.
Woodson’s background is pretty interesting—he played under the legendary Bobby Knight at Indiana and was drafted 12th overall by the Knicks in 1980.
He spent 11 years in the NBA, with five seasons at the Kings before taking an assistant coaching position with the Bucks in 1996. Following that, he had various roles around the league, including a head coaching stint with the Hawks from 2004 to 2010.
Woodson joined the Knicks as an assistant coach in 2011, later becoming head coach from 2012 to 2014, where he achieved a solid record of 109 wins and 79 losses.
In the 2012-13 season, he guided the Knicks to one of their finest seasons, with 54 wins and a spot in the Eastern Conference semifinals. After leaving, he returned to the Knicks as an assistant in 2020 before moving to Indiana.
Now, Woodson is looking to help the Kings get back into playoff contention after they missed the play-in tournaments for the past two seasons, which must be frustrating for the fans and the organization alike.
