New York Knicks head coach Mike Brown has become a franchise icon for leading the team to its first championship in 53 years. He deserves every ounce of praise he receives—and then some. Separate from that conversation, however, is one about the coach who pulled the Knicks out of the depths of despair: Tom Thibodeau.
Though Thibodeau wasn't the coach who got the Knicks across the finish line, he deserves praise and a sincere thank you for proving New York could be relevant again in the NBA.
Thibodeau took over as head coach of the Knicks in 2020. At the time, New York had missed the playoffs in seven consecutive seasons. Moreover, it'd made a grand total of four postseason appearances across the previous 19 years.
To make matters worse, the Knicks hadn't even won 30 games in a season since 2017 and went 17-65 and 21-45 during the two years prior to Thibodeau's appointment.
During Thibodeau's first season at the helm, the Knicks went 41-31 and ended the seven-year playoff drought. They went 37-45 the next season, but that was still tied for their second-best record in nine years. And then Jalen Brunson arrived in 2022.
Suddenly, Thibodeau and the Knicks weren't just ending droughts—they were building toward a championship. Though his departure may have been necessary, the progress he made was nothing short of vital.
Tom Thibodeau changed the culture, made the Knicks winners again
In 2022-23, the Knicks posted their highest win total in 10 years and their second-highest win total in 22 years. In 2023-24, they posted their first 50-win season since 2012-13 and their second since 1999-00. In 2024-25, they achieved consecutive 50-win seasons for the first time since 1993-94 and 1994-95.
Thibodeau also led the Knicks to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 1999-00 and just the third time in a 30-year span.
Brown ultimately achieved the unfathomable feat of leading the Knicks to their first championship since 1973. He did so by making necessary changes to how the rotation was constructed, how minutes were distributed, how the offense was run, and even how the culture still had jagged edges that needed to be smoothed over.
One can openly acknowledge how important those changes were, however, without downplaying the importance of Thibodeau's tenure to the title that was ultimately won.
Thibodeau didn't just end a surplus of droughts, but changed the culture from that of a losing franchise to one that was consistently relevant. The four postseason appearances in five years that he mustered marked the Knicks' best rate of regular season success since 2001—and ended the constant turnover at head coach that played its part in such inconsistency.
Thibodeau played a direct role in New York basketball meaning something other than misery. For that, this Knicks fan is eternally grateful.
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