Sam Amick

USA TODAY Sports

As NBA environments go, they don’t get much more different than Phoenix and New York.

It didn’t take first-year Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek long to learn that much.

“It’s a little different,” he says with a laugh, even saying it twice for effect.

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For six of his 15 seasons as a player, and nearly three years as head coach, he worked for the Phoenix Suns in that desert landscape where the days are so much hotter than the spotlight. Their basketball team was mostly beloved, especially when he turned things around during his debut campaign as coach three seasons ago. The headlines would burn every so often, but nothing like the constant hot takes that come with coaching in the world’s biggest media market.

With Hornacek set to return to Phoenix Tuesday for the first time since he was fired in February, and with his Knicks an early surprise at 14-10 (third in the Eastern Conference), he discussed his situation with USA TODAY Sports recently. From the early observations of franchise centerpiece Carmelo Anthony to the improved supporting cast to life living on the Upper West Side to his view on LeBron James’ recent exploits at Madison Square Garden, Hornacek covered a lot of territory before heading back to his old stomping grounds.

Q: What are you seeing out of ‘Melo this year as far as his game changing within this different context?

A: “I think the confidence in his teammates, that they can do stuff … There are times when maybe we’re struggling and Derrick (Rose) is able to penetrate and get to the basket, so he understands that there’s other guys on his team who, at times, when teams are doubling him or taking him out of something, that one of our guys can step up and do something.”

Q: Even at this late stage of his career, coming off the Olympics, did you see any minor tweaks in the way he approaches the game or the way his mind works coming off the gold medal (experience)?

A: “Well I don’t know what he was doing prior to me being here, so it’s hard to really say. What I can say is the stuff that he’s doing here. He’s been that calming leader. Early on, we weren’t playing very well (they started 3-6), and he was … telling the guys, ‘We’re a new team, we’re new guys together, it’s going to take us some time.’ So he’s kind of being the leader that way, so again I can’t compare to (what happened before), because I haven’t been around him and I don’t know. But I think it’s different being a leader with a USA team that has 15 of the best players in the league, and then you have to come back to your team where you’re the top guy. It’s a different type of leadership I think, and so far he has done great.”

Q: I always wonder, does it put you in a tough, awkward spot when this stuff with Phil and Melo flares up every so often, where you become the man in the middle and guys are asking you about it?

A: “Yeah, I mean it happens. I think that’s the understanding in New York, that things get blown up probably more than a comment here or a comment there, which is probably meaningless, turns into something big. So you roll with the punches.”

Q: What about this thing with LeBron throwing the water bottle. Did it bother you, and not necessarily as the Knicks coach but as a former player?

A: “Yeah, I mean you can have the old-school respect for the game. The guys now are playing the game where they’re having fun, and if that’s something that they’re having fun doing … You know all that would do for me as a player is the next time you play them that should jack you up and get you ready to go. I don’t know if there’s enough of those players in today’s game that take any stock in that, but that’s how we would approach it … Everybody looks at it differently I guess.”

Q: In general terms, how do you see the contrast between your Phoenix experience and New York, with all the periphery stuff that comes with this job?

A: “It’s a little different. It’s a little different. Every day, the media – whether it’s, I don’t know, 10, 15, 20 (reporters, whereas) in Phoenix you may have had three or four, so that’s a little different. You know, it’s a passionate city for basketball. So win and they love you, lose and they hate you.”

Q: Do you get a razzing even around town? How do the locals treat you on the street?

A: “No, it’s great on the street. It’s amazing how many people will say stuff, and it’s been all positive, so that’s been fun. You walk the streets of New York, and you try to be incognito a little bit.

Carmelo and Phil are speaking but hurt feelings remain

Q: Can you be?

A: “Oh yeah. I don’t stick out. I don’t stick out, but there are a lot of people that notice.”

Q: Having fun?

“Yeah. So far, so good.”

Check out a clip of Sam Amick's interview with Hornacek at the 19:25 mark of this episode of the NBA A to Z podcast: