NBA
Knicks Coaching Job Among Best in NBA
Not too many people in the profession have it better than New York Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau.
Thibodeau, 66, has coached the Knicks since 2020 and he’s taken the team to new heights in his four years leading the bench. When he started, the Knicks job was attractive, but it was far from what it currently is now.
According to CBS Sports writer Sam Quinn, it’s the sixth-most attractive job in the NBA.
“The Knicks now have one of the NBA’s deepest rosters. Virtually everyone is either currently underpaid or was when they were acquired. New York still has plenty of tradable draft capital. The miles Tom Thibodeau has already put on his best players are always a concern, but any new coach could mitigate those concerns by immediately instituting a more traditional rotation,” Quinn writes.
The only teams that ranked higher on Quinn’s list were the Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets, Boston Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Knicks job has grown over time, and a lot of that has to do with the players the Knicks have acquired in recent years. The only players from Thibodeau’s first year that have remained with the team throughout his tenure are Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson.
Now, he’s got a squad around those guys, including Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby, Donte DiVincenzo and Isaiah Hartenstein. Granted, Anunoby and Hartenstein are free agents this summer, but that nucleus was able to win 50 games for the Knicks this past season, leading them to the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. With a little bit more luck on the injury front, it’s very possible that the Knicks could have advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2000.
Heading into his fifth year, Thibodeau has a chance to build off of what he has done over the past four years and turn the Knicks job into one of the best in sports. With Brunson leading the way, the Knicks’ vibes are at an all-time high, and that should make Thibodeau’s job as easy as it is exciting.