NEW YORK (AP) – Bill Laimbeer recently met with Knicks president Isiah Thomas and acknowledged Sunday that he discussed the possibility of coaching the team.

“I suppose that was part of it, yes,” Laimbeer said. “We talked about his basketball team, about its structure and what his vision is.”

Laimbeer, the former Pistons center who now coaches the WNBA’s Detroit Shock, was not more specific, but he said there was no timetable for his next move.

In April, Thomas called interim coach Herb Williams the “front-runner” to be the head coach when training camp opens in October, Thomas also met with Phil Jackson that month, and has interviewed other candidates.

Laimbeer has said before that he would like to coach in the NBA someday. He and Thomas were teammates on Detroit’s “Bad Boys” 1989 and 1990 NBA championship teams.

“I think he’s a very smart basketball guy,” Laimbeer said. “I think he’s a great evaluator of talent.”

The Knicks finished 33-49 last season, and coach Lenny Wilkens resigned at midseason. Williams led New York to a 16-27 finish. A nine-game losing streak that began in March ended any chance New York had of qualifying for the playoffs for a second straight year.

If Laimbeer, who coached the Shock to the WNBA title in 2003, were to take the job, he’d be the Knicks’ fourth coach in two seasons. The Knicks haven’t won a postseason game in four years, and it’s been five since they took a playoff series.

AP-ES-06-12-05 1725EDT