The New York Knicks will start their five-game road trip out West with a matchup against the Utah Jazz at Vivint Arena on Tuesday night. Following that, the Knicks will travel to take on the Nuggets, Warriors, Suns, and Thunder before returning to The Garden on Nov. 25. Based on how New York has been playing, it isn’t unreasonable to think that the team could return to the city on a six-game losing streak after falling to Oklahoma City on Sunday.
During the Knicks’ disappointing 2021-22 season, fans started to call for Tom Thibodeau’s job but after Leon Rose voiced his support for the coach in a pre-taped interview, it became clear that the head coach would remain at the helm. With New York 13 games into the regular season, the chatter surrounding Thibodeau’s job has started back up again, and for good reason.
According to SNY’s Ian Begley, depending on how the Knicks perform on the road, Thibodeau’s job could be in danger.
.@IanBegley tells @emacSNY that Tom Thibodeau's seat is "warm":
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) November 14, 2022
"If you have another few of those games on this trip where the Knicks just look terrible, I think there's going to be a big change made, whether it's Thibodeau or something else" https://t.co/9VKFOyvi2Y
➡️ @HONDA pic.twitter.com/j0pgwQHafJ
Tom Thibodeau’s seat is ‘warm’ as Knicks prepare to go on road trip out West
Ian Begley said that the 145-135 loss to a rebuilding Thunder team is the kind of loss that shouldn’t happen, as well as the loss to the Hawks where the Knicks blew a 23-point lead, and last week’s blowout loss against the Nets.
"“Their record is probably around what most people thought it would be at this point in the season. The way they’re losing games, the way they’ve lost some of these games lately, I think it leads to internal questions in this organization.”"
Begley added that Thibodeau’s seat is “warm” and that if the Knicks have a few games on their road trip where they don’t compete on the defensive end, “a significant change” could happen. He added that a change could involve Thibodeau or Leon Rose.
The timing couldn’t be worse for Thibs as New York will travel to face three of the top four teams (Nuggets, Suns, Jazz) in the West. Golden State has been struggling to start the season, but based on how the Knicks have looked, the Nov. 18 matchup at Chase Center is shaping up to be a three-point show by the defending champions. New York will have an opportunity to get revenge against Oklahoma City to close out the trip on Nov. 21, but a win is far from guaranteed.
If the Knicks do decide to move on from Thibodeau, Johnnie Bryant will likely step in as the interim head coach. The 37-year-old was a candidate to replace Quin Snyder during the offseason, and he could end up getting his first official head coaching job in New York.
After two full seasons with the Knicks, we could be watching the tail end of the Tom Thibodeau era. Let’s see how New York fares on the road.
Tom Thibodeau’s quote after Knicks’ shameful loss proves he doesn’t get it
Tom Thibodeau's seat is reportedly growing warm after the New York Knicks were embarrassed by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder on Sunday.