Report: Tom Thibodeau Didn’t Like Early Knicks Moves

New York Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau took over the team in 2020 when they lacked a true direction and identity.

Four years later, the Knicks have a clear vision on both fronts and have made moves to build the foundation Thibodeau has helped create for them.

However, according to New York sports reporter and insider Ian O’Connor, Thibodeau wasn’t a fan of some of the team’s moves early in his tenure with the team.

“Early on, some of [Rose’s] moves, I didn’t like, to be honest with you,” O’Connor said on the “Knicks Film School” podcast h/t Sporting News writer Scott Davis. “I criticized him for a couple moves he made. I think Thibs, based on the sources I talked to, wasn’t happy with a couple of moves Leon Rose made. 

“At the end of the day, the guy’s done a great job.”

Rose took over as Knicks president in March 2020, shortly before Thibodeau was hired a few months later. In the first two years together, the Knicks made the playoffs in 2021, but were bounced in the first round in five games to Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks. The following year, the Knicks reverted back to the lottery, which was a major step in the wrong direction.

However, the Knicks corrected their mistakes made in the 2021-22 campaign by signing Jalen Brunson and making him their starting point guard. That move will go down as Rose’s defining moment with the Knicks, and quite possibly his career as an NBA executive. The signing paved the path that the Knicks are currently on, which has them as one of the league’s top teams seeking a championship.

Rose has been able to build a team around Brunson by signing key role players in Josh Hart, Donte DiVincenzo and Isaiah Hartenstein. He’s also made big swings on trades for OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges, which has put the Knicks in position to be a championship contender for years to come.

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