Knicks hire William Wesley

Overtime Heroics Editorial

1900 days ago

As announced earlier today, the New York Knicks hire William Wesley, known as “World Wide Wes”, as an executive vice president and senior basketball advisor. He joins longtime friend Leon Rose in the Knicks’ front office. The pair met working together at CAA, where Wesley has been a coaching consultant for the past 13 years. As far back as 2010, the New York Times labeled him a “basketball power broker”. Impressively, LeBron James, Richard Hamilton, Allen Iverson and Kentucky head coach John Calipari are among Wesley’s most famous basketball connections.

Equally impressive, the list of Wesley’s non-basketball friends include: Nike founder Phil Knight, Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones and the Clintons. Additionally, rappers Drake and Jay-Z both have made references to their friend William Wesley. In 2007, QG asked their readers, is World Wide West “the most powerful man in sports?” Certainly, William Wesley comes to New York well respected, and even more connected. Yet, the question remains, will Wesley be able to transform the Knicks from laughing stock to contenders?

What this means for the Knicks

Cautiously, this is a good move for New York. By adding Rose and Wesley, New York is attempting to become more desirable to free agents. In recent years, the Knicks have struggled to land big name free agents. Most recently, in the chaotic summer of 2019, superstar Kevin Durant signed with the Knicks’ rivals, the Brooklyn Nets. Aggressively, Durant said, “It’s like the cool thing right now is not the Knicks.” The Knicks are hopeful that by having a front office of Leon Rose and William Wesley, the Knicks will be “cool” for future star free agents. As the Knicks hire William Wesley, it remains to be seen what the franchise does next.

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