It's far from hyperbolic to state that Tom Thibodeau has saved the New York Knicks. Despite complaints about his distribution of minutes, Thibodeau has reminded the Knicks of who they are at their very core and pulled them out of decades of inconsistency.
The latest accomplishment to land on Thibodeau's résumé has officially placed him alongside one of the greatest coaches in New York and NBA history: Pat Riley.
The Knicks hosted the Phoenix Suns on Sunday, Apr. 5 in a momentous encounter. New York entered the clash with Phoenix just one win shy of 50 on the season—a generally elusive number for the franchise prior to Thibodeau's tenure.
A 112-98 victory over the Suns, which included the highly-anticipated return of Jalen Brunson, ultimately pushed the Knicks' record to 50-28.
That's reason enough to celebrate, as Thibodeau has navigated injuries and a massive roster overhaul to guide New York to a 50-win season. The Knicks are now guaranteed to finish no lower than No. 4 in the Eastern Conference standings, thus guaranteeing at least one round of home-court advantage.
In terms of the historical significance of this feat, Thibodeau has become the first head coach to lead the Knicks to back-to-back 50-win seasons since Riley in 1995.
Tom Thibodeau: The first Knicks coach with consecutive 50-win seasons since Pat Riley
30 years after Riley's final season at the helm, Thibodeau has done something that no other attempted replacement has been able to. Jeff Van Gundy came close, leading New York to a 50-32 record in 1999-00 and a 48-34 campaign in 2000-01, but even he fell short.
It's also worth noting that Thibodeau was one of the assistant coaches under Van Gundy during the aforementioned winning seasons.
Unfortunately, between 2001 and when Thibodeau took over as head coach in 2020, the Knicks became the laughingstock of the NBA. Despite playing at The Mecca of Basketball, New York made the playoffs a mere four times in 19 seasons—eclipsing 50 wins just once.
The Knicks have already made the playoffs four times in just five seasons under Thibodeau, including back-to-back 50-win campaigns.
Considering the Knicks have now accomplished more in five years under Thibodeau than during the 19 seasons that preceded him, it's safe to praise him as much as one can. He's reminded the Knicks of the type of hard-nosed basketball that defined their culture during the successful decades that preceded the 21st century.
More importantly, Thibodeau has accepted criticism and adapted his offensive system in ways that most believed he was unable to during his stints with the Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves.
The results have been remarkable on every front—including player development. Individuals such as Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle achieved All-NBA status for the first time in their respective careers, while the likes of OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges have taken career-altering steps forward offensively.
Compounded by the fact that the Knicks have won more playoff series under Thibodeau than they did in the 19 previous seasons combined, it's been a landscape-altering tenure for the franchise.