4: He has a past with Tom Thibodeau
After Begley reported that Rick was finalizing an assistant coach contract, Twitter exploded. The news came a couple of days after Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer reported that “there’s a growing sense among league personnel that Jalen Brunson will return to Dallas following the Mavericks’ sprint to the Western Conference Finals.”
That wasn’t necessarily news because Mark Cuban’s made it known that Dallas wants to re-sign Jalen. So, when it was reported that Rick was going to make his way to New York to work under his old friend Tom Thibodeau, several Knicks fans chalked the move up to Rick and Thibodeau’s relationship.
Rick served as an assistant coach under Thibodeau with both the Chicago Bulls and the Minnesota Timberwolves, but their relationship didn’t start there. Begley wrote:
"Thibodeau and Brunson first met in Salem, Mass., when Thibodeau coached at Salem State and Brunson was a McDonald’s All-American at Salem High School. Brunson and Thibodeau played in the same Salem outdoor men’s summer league (Thibodeau played on a team that included some of his Salem State players). Brunson also worked out with Salem State players during Thibodeau’s tenure."
Rick went undrafted in 1995 and it wasn’t until the 1997-98 season that he made his official NBA debut once he signed with the Portland Trail Blazers. And Begley reported that leading up to that moment, “Thibodeau made calls on Brunson’s behalf – as he had done throughout Brunson’s career – advocating for the guard.” Interesting.
Once Payne made the switch to Louisville, perhaps the first person that Thibodeau thought of to take his spot was Rick. It wouldn’t be the first time that Thibodeau helped Rick get a position.