Tom Thibodeau has been the head coach of the New York Knicks for five seasons, which is the fourth-longest tenured head coach in the league currently. He became the fourth-longest after Michael Malone was stunningly fired by the Denver Nuggets earlier this week.
NBA writer suggests Knicks swap Tom Thibodeau for Michael Malone as head coach
Malone was head coach of the Nuggets for 10 years and won an NBA Championship with Denver in 2023. Given that the Nuggets are in the thick of a heated Western Conference playoff race and only a few games left until the playoffs, his dismissal was a huge shock.
It would be even more unprecedented if the Knicks let go of Thibodeau, especially given how he led the franchise’s turnaround and has a good rapport with the players. However, a disappointing playoff finish could result in a dismissal.
TWSN’s Marissa Myers suggested that New York could move on from Thibodeau and pursue Malone, who has proven he can get a team to the promised land.
“After the recent firing of Malone, it makes the decision easier for the Knicks to move on from Thibodeau. Malone is New York through-and-through, and would bring a spark back to the team. Malone was born in Queens, and transferred from the University of Rhode Island to the Seton Hall Preparatory School after his father became an assistant on the Knick’s coaching staff. Down the line in 2001 after graduating college, Malone would join the Knicks’ staff as an assistant as well,” Myers wrote.
Thibodeau has had fans calling for his job for years
The Knicks are having one of their most successful seasons in franchise history with Thibodeau at the helm. However, they have notably been very uncompetitive against the top teams in the league, as they are 0-9 against the Cavaliers, Celtics, and Thunder this season.
Those teams are historically good but also very well coached, and unless Thibodeau proves otherwise in the playoffs, he is a tier below those three in the coaching rankings. Malone had already proven to be a championship coach and could fit well in the Knicks’ system given his aforementioned connections to the city.
The main caveat, and this is for Knicks fans calling for Thibodeau to be fired, is that his schemes are very similar to Thibodeau in a way. Many fans have called for Thibodeau to play the starters less minutes and give the bench guys more burn.
Malone has a lot of similarities to Thibodeau
Well, one of the big issues that former Nuggets GM Calvin Booth had with Malone was that he played the veterans more than the rookies and sophomores. Furthermore, superstar center Nikola Jokic had expressed displeasure with the team’s defense under Malone, which is a similar complaint Knicks fans have with Thibodeau.
Contenders are not built overnight, and it took Malone several years to finally climb the mountain top despite having a three-time MVP on his team in Jokic. Thibodeau has a brand new roster to work with this season with the additions of Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns, and oftentimes it takes a full season to fully gel on the court.
There isn’t a big justification with cutting ties with Thibodeau unless they somehow were to get swept by their first-round playoff matchup. Malone would be an impactful coach for New York, but it would not be a significant change from Thibodeau.