Knicks ink Tom Thibodeau to extension

Tom Thibodeau is not going anywhere.

The New York Knicks and their coach have agreed on a contract extension, a league source confirmed to The Athletic. ESPN was the first to report the news.

Adding years onto the 66-year-old’s deal was an expected move heading into the summer. The Athletic reported as recently as last week that an agreement remained likely. Thibodeau, who New York hired in 2020, was set to enter the final year of his contract in 2024-25, which will now run through 2027-28, according to ESPN.

The Knicks have found more success under Thibodeau than they had churned out in the previous 20 years before his arrival. They won 50 games this past season for the first time in 11 years, rising all the way to the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. They ousted the Philadelphia 76ers in Round 1 of the playoffs before falling in seven games to the Indiana Pacers in Round 2.

The victory over the Sixers marked the first time the Knicks had won a playoff series in consecutive seasons since 2000.

New York has made it into the postseason during three of its four years with Thibodeau at the helm. An organization that became famous for its turnover at the top of the bench has now found not just success but also consistency. This extension sets Thibodeau up to become the Knicks’ longest-tenured coach in decades.

Once he steps on the court to begin the 2024-25 season, he will become the first person to have a five-year run as head coach of the Knicks since Jeff Van Gundy in 2001. If he makes it through the following season, a six-year run would make him the longest-tenured Knicks coach since Red Holzman, who coached New York from 1968 to 1977 and was at the helm when the organization won its only two championships.

The Knicks have cultivated an ultra-competitive, gritty identity under Thibodeau’s tutelage. It’s no coincidence. Thibodeau does not just notoriously demand that attitude from his players. The front office has also gone out of its way to acquire like-minded personalities, such as noted hustlers Josh Hart, Donte DiVincenzo, Miles “Deuce” McBride, OG Anunoby and most recently Mikal Bridges.

Julius Randle has transformed into a three-time All-Star under Thibodeau’s watch. Mitchell Robinson has reached new defensive heights.

The group’s star player, Jalen Brunson, who made his first All-NBA team this past season, signed with the Knicks in 2022 in part because of a lifelong connection with Thibodeau. Brunson’s father, Rick Brunson, played for Thibodeau back when Rick was a point guard with the Knicks and Thibodeau was an assistant. Rick has since been an assistant on Thibodeau’s staff three times: with the Chicago Bulls, Minnesota Timberwolves and now the Knicks.

Jalen remains one of Thibodeau’s greatest advocates.

The extension did not finalize until July, but there was never much doubt, either on Thibodeau’s or the Knicks’ side, that one would come this summer. Thibodeau was entering the final season of his contract, and coaches around the league are getting paid top dollar, as The Athletic detailed earlier in the summer. 

Thibodeau has made his intentions clear ever since signing with the Knicks.

He fielded a question about his future following the team’s Game 7 elimination this past May.

“The Knicks have been great to me,” he responded. “This is where I want to be.”

His connection with the front office goes back longer than just 2020.

Team president Leon Rose, who took over the organization shortly before hiring Thibodeau, once ran the basketball division of CAA, the agency that represents Thibodeau. The two have long been close. Once Rose landed the president job, Thibodeau immediately emerged as his preferred candidate.

Thibodeau has gone 175-143 (.550) during his four seasons as the Knicks’ coach.

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(Photo: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)