Tom Thibodeau’s Extension Could be Last With Knicks

The New York Knicks are excited to keep Tom Thibodeau at the helm for another three years after signing him to an extension earlier this week.

Thibodeau, 66, has been with the Knicks for four years, making the postseason three times. He’s certainly done enough to earn the extension, but it could very well easily be the last he signs in his career.

When Thibodeau signed on with the Knicks in 2020, it was a “full circle” moment for the long-time coach and assistant.

“Thibodeau’s hiring as Knicks head coach in 2020 was a full-circle moment in his life,” ESPN insider Adrian Wojnarowski writes. “Growing up in New Britain, Connecticut, his father, Thomas Sr., became a Knicks fan because Eddie Donovan — the coach at his alma mater, St. Bonaventure — left the school to become coach and GM of the Knicks. Thomas Sr. introduced his son to Knicks fandom at a young age, and Thibodeau eventually served as a Knicks assistant coach under Jeff Van Gundy from 1996 to 2003.”

Becoming head coach of the Knicks was a dream job for Thibodeau, and it’s hard to see him get a job that he would want more than this one. Not only does he coach the team he grew up a fan of, but he has them competing and contending for a championship, the franchise’s first in over 50 years. He has four years left (one on current deal, three on extension) to get the Knicks over the top.

By the end of the deal, Thibodeau will be 70 years old, which isn’t an expiration date for coaches, but very few other than Gregg Popovich last this long in the league. He may want to continue coaching, but it will be hard to envision the Knicks giving him another deal if they haven’t won a title by then.

Thibodeau inherited the Knicks when they missed out on the COVID-19 bubble. They were a bad team. He has taken them to new heights over the past few years and has them in a good spot. But now, the Knicks and Thibodeau have expectations.

The only way Thibodeau signs a new contract is if the Knicks win a title AND he also has to want to coach into his 70’s.

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