Sources: Middletown native one of three to interview for Knicks coaching job

Micah Nori has been a longtime NBA assistant.
Minnesota Timberwolves assistant coach Micah Nori directs his team in the first half of Game 7 of an NBA second-round playoff series against the Denver Nuggets, Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

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Minnesota Timberwolves assistant coach Micah Nori directs his team in the first half of Game 7 of an NBA second-round playoff series against the Denver Nuggets, Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

A Middletown native is one step closer to being a head coach in the NBA.

Micah Nori, assistant coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves, has interviewed to be the New York Knicks head coach, according to sources.

The Knicks have interviewed three candidates — Nori and two former NBA head coaches, Mike Brown and Taylor Jenkins — for the vacancy.

Nori, 51, has been an assistant with Minnesota since 2021 under coach Chris Finch.

Nori has spent 10 years as an advance scout, and his first job as an NBA assistant was on the Toronto Raptors’ coaching staff. He has been an assistant coach since 2009, with stops in Toronto, Sacramento, Denver, Detroit, and for the last four years, Minnesota.

Brown is the former Kings head coach and Jenkins, who was fired in March, had served as Grizzlies coach since 2019-20.

Minnesota Timberwolves assistant coach Micah Nori, left, listens to referee Marc Davis (8) explain a call during the second half of Game 5 of the Western Conference finals in the NBA basketball playoffs against the Dallas Mavericks, Thursday, May 30, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

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The Knicks are searching for a new head coach after firing Tom Thibodeau in a surprising move after he led the team to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in 25 years.

Nori, a three-sport athlete at Fenwick and Middletown high schools, played baseball at Indiana University where he was captain and middle infielder. He finished with a .305 batting average, 20 home runs, 127 RBI, 116 runs, 35 doubles and 18 stolen bases.

The trajectory of Nori’s career changed following a 1998 phone call from Butch Carter, a standout Middletown basketball player who starred at Indiana University and in the NBA.

Carter, a friend of the Nori family and then newly hired coach of the Toronto Raptors, called Fred Nori, Micah’s father, and asked if he thought Micah would be interested in joining his staff as an intern.

Now, 27 years later, Nori may become the second NBA head coach in Middletown history.

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