After winning the NBA Coach of the Year in 2020-21, Tom Thibodeau quickly went from being a beloved figure to New York Knicks fans to their biggest enemy.
The 64-year-old head coach is wrapping up his second season leading New York and according to Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer, the organization is expected to bring him back for a third year.
Fred Katz appeared on Tuesday’s edition of The Athletic NBA Show podcast to discuss the Knicks’ season. He talked about the mystery that is Julius Randle, as well as Thibodeau.
Katz echoed Fischer’s report and said that he believes that Thibodeau will return next season, but he went on to say that “things swerve at different moments, unexpectedly.” Nonetheless, he said that he expects both Thibodeau and Leon Rose to be back next year.
However, after Katz said that, he dropped a mini bombshell about the feeling regarding Thibodeau within New York’s organization.
Will Tom Thibodeau be back with the New York Knicks next season?
According to Katz, the problem with Thibodeau isn’t that he went from leading the Knicks to a fourth-place finish in the East to an 11th or 12th place finish. Instead, he said:
“The issue, really, with Thibs is not even necessarily the change in record. It’s just more that there are people in that organization who are not completely his allies, or not completely his supporters, is what I should say right now.”
The beat reporter referenced back to a report from SportsNet New York’s Ian Begley, who reported that Executive Vice President/Senior Basketball Advisor William Wesley has had disagreements with Thibodeau.
Wesley isn’t the only person that Thibodeau doesn’t see eye-to-eye with, though, per Katz, which is interesting considering that his job isn’t guaranteed.
Like Katz, I believe that Fischer’s report about Thibodeau staying is legitimate, especially considering that he’s the one who first broke the news that James Harden wasn’t happy in Brooklyn.
Ultimately, I don’t think that it’d be a bad idea (at all) if the Knicks were to say goodbye to Thibodeau this summer. He hasn’t given a strong indication that he’s willing to do what it takes to lead a team with a young core like New York.
After all, it wasn’t until recently that players like Obi Toppin and Immanuel Quickley have seen the court more. And guess what? Both have done well. Toppin recently recorded a career-high 20 points (twice) and Quickley just notched his first triple-double outing, and he did it coming off the bench.
Now all that’s left to do is sit back and wait to see what happens. Until it becomes official, there’ll still be a chance that the Knicks will decide to go in a different direction and part ways with Thibodeau. It’s going to be a long, hot summer after all.
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