NEW YORK -- The New York Knicks issued a statement after the team's branding consultant, Steve Stoute, went on ESPN's First Take and discussed the team's coaching decisions.
"Any decisions regarding the operations of the team will be made by the new President of the New York Knicks," the team said in a statement.
An additional statement from Stoute released by the team said that "in my excitement to defend the Knicks on live TV today, I inadvertently insinuated about Knicks personnel."
On Tuesday morning, Stoute told ESPN's First Take that "there had to be a change" in firing former president Steve Mills. He also implied that replacing Mills with Scott Perry means that the franchise will hire a new coach.
The Knicks fired former coach David Fizdale in early December and replaced him with interim coach Mike Miller.
Before Tuesday, no Knicks representative had made any comments about Miller's future with the franchise.
"They got some young players -- you see RJ Barrett, Mitch Robinson," Stoute said. "They got something to work with. And getting a coach in there and ultimately getting a coach and a coaching staff that's going to help develop a team. That's what I expect to happen so that we can actually get what you expect from a New York team.
"... Having a coach like that who has the magnitude and gravitas so that the media would love to talk to him and believe him, I think that's super important."
Stoute, who founded the agency Translation and worked with musicians such as Mary J. Blige, was hired by the Knicks in January. The Knicks currently have a 17-37 record and are 13th in the Eastern Conference.
