Mike Woodson did not sound like a former New York Knicks coach watching someone else finish his old job.
After the Knicks ended their 53-year championship drought, Woodson told TMZ Sports he was happy to see the franchise win the NBA title and rejected the idea that the moment felt bittersweet from the outside.
Woodson, who both played for and coached New York, called the championship run “unbelievable” and summed up his connection to the team with a line Knicks fans know well: “Once a Knick, always a Knick.”
His answer carried more history than a routine congratulatory quote. Woodson was part of the Knicks long before Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns helped close out the San Antonio Spurs, and he had his own run as the coach who briefly pushed New York back into playoff relevance in the early 2010s.
Woodson’s Knicks History Goes Back to the 1980 Draft
New York selected Woodson with the 12th overall pick in the 1980 NBA Draft, and his playing career later included stops with the Nets, Kings, Clippers, Rockets, and Cavaliers. He returned to the Knicks decades later as an assistant under Mike D’Antoni and became interim head coach in March 2012 after D’Antoni resigned.
That stretch became one of the Knicks’ best runs between their 1990s playoff years and the current Brunson era. NBA.com noted that Woodson guided New York to an 18-6 finish in 2011-12, then led the team to a 54-28 record in 2012-13. The Knicks won their first Atlantic Division title since 1994 and beat Boston for their only second-round playoff appearance since 2000.
The run ended well short of a championship, but it gave Woodson a different place in Knicks history than many former coaches from the franchise’s long drought. When TMZ asked about the 2026 title, Woodson did not frame the moment around what his own teams missed.
He Said He Was ‘Truly, Truly Happy’ for James Dolan
Woodson singled out Knicks owner James Dolan in the TMZ interview, saying he was “truly, truly happy” to see Dolan with a Larry O’Brien Trophy. Dolan has owned the franchise through much of its modern title drought, making the comment one of the more pointed parts of Woodson’s reaction.
The Knicks sealed the championship with a 94-90 win over the Spurs in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Brunson scored 45 points, set a Knicks Finals scoring record, and earned Finals MVP as New York won the series 4-1.
Woodson also mentioned Brunson, Towns, and the rest of the roster while describing the title run. The current group finished what several previous versions of the franchise could not, giving New York its first NBA championship since 1973.
Woodson Has a New Job After His Indiana Return
Woodson is now on Doug Christie’s staff in Sacramento. The Kings announced in May 2025 that Woodson had been named associate head coach after more than four decades around the NBA as a player and coach.
TMZ also asked Woodson about Sacramento’s draft picks, and he said he was satisfied with the choices the Kings made. The Knicks answer still became the sharper clip because it showed a former New York player and coach responding to the franchise’s biggest basketball moment since the early 1970s without turning the celebration into a personal what-if.