UK or Knicks for Payne? ‘It’s hard to even fathom leaving Kentucky,’ he says.
Kentucky associate head coach Kenny Payne acknowledged Saturday that the New York Knicks have expressed an interest in hiring him as an assistant coach.
“All I can say is it’s not an easy decision,” he said of the UK-or-Knicks basketball crossroads he might face. “And, hopefully, it gets resolved one way or the other here soon.”
Jeff Goodman of The Stadium reported on Twitter that Payne was considering an offer to join the Knicks, who recently hired Tom Thibodeau as the new head coach. The Knicks are also considering hiring a former player, Mike Woodson, as an assistant coach.
“They reached out to Coach Cal (John Calipari) for permission to talk to me,” Payne said of the Knicks. “That’s the most I can say.”
The Knicks have also spoken to his agent, Payne said.
“But I have a great job for a lot of different reasons,” he said. “And all I can tell you is that I’ve been blessed to be able to be in a position to help a lot of people. It’s more than just basketball with me when you’re in a position to help families.”
Should Payne leave for the Knicks, UK reportedly is looking to fill the vacancy with James “Bruiser” Flint. Now an assistant coach at Indiana, Flint worked on Calipari’s staff at UMass for seven seasons.
Payne joined Calipari’s UK staff in 2010. He was promoted to associate head coach in 2014.
Former UK players, especially big men, have credited Payne with helping them develop. Payne has been recognized as helping Anthony Davis and Karl-Anthony Towns, both of whom became the first overall selections in the 2012 and 2015 NBA drafts respectively. He also worked with Nerlens Noel (sixth pick in 2013), Julius Randle (seventh pick in 2014), Willie Cauley-Stein (sixth pick in 2015), Skal Labissiere (28th pick in 2016), Bam Adebayo (14th pick in 2017), Kevin Knox (ninth pick in 2018) and PJ Washington (12th pick in 2019).
“That is a unique situation,” Payne said of the chance to work with highly regarded players. “It’s hard to even fathom leaving Kentucky when you’re in a position like I’m in.”
Payne is a native of Laurel, Miss., where he was a Parade All-American and the state’s player of the year while at Northeast Jones High School.
Payne’s four seasons for Louisville included helping the Cardinals win the 1986 national championship. He scored 1,083 points in his U of L career.
His extensive experience as a pro player included stints in the NBA, the Continental Basketball Association and stops in Italy, Japan, the Philippines, Cypress, China, Brazil, Argentina and Australia.
Usually when a coach is weighing a decision about working in college basketball or the NBA, the basketball-only aspect of the pros is seen as making that option attractive.
Payne said that perception would not apply to him.
“What people think is hard about college basketball, I love about college basketball,” he said. “I love recruiting and building relationships with families. All of that, that’s important to me.”
Payne said he hoped that the course of his immediate basketball future will be settled by the end of this coming week.
