Sports talk great Mike Francesa was the first to report that the Timberwolves had denied the Knicks permission to speak with their head coach, Chris Finch, who led them to the Western Conference finals this season.

Days into the New York Knicks’ search for a new head coach, they asked the Houston Rockets for permission to interview their head coach, Ime Udoka. Houston was having none of it.

Over a week after firing Tom Thibodeau, the New York Knicks' search for an experienced successor has hit some road blocks. New York requested permission to speak with Chris Finch of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Ime Udoka of the Houston Rockets and was rebuffed in both instances,