Tom Thibodeau has been the recurring favorite to land the New York Knicks head-coaching position. A source told Marc Berman of the New York Post that Thibodeau has been “passing away the time poring over Knicks game film as he awaits a possible job offer.”
Berman notes that Thibodeau is a fan of Knicks big man Mitchell Robinson.
It’s known one of the things that most intrigues Thibodeau about coaching the Knicks roster is molding young shot-blocking center Mitchell Robinson into an even better defensive player.
Thibodeau was an assistant for the New York Knicks from 1996-2003, including seven seasons under head coach Jeff Van Gundy. Thibodeau followed Van Gundy to the Houston Rockets in 2003, where he’d reside for four seasons. He was then an assistant for the Boston Celtics under head coach Doc Rivers, which led to him becoming the Chicago Bulls head coach in 2010.
Thibodeau won Coach of the Year honors in 2011 and coached Chicago from 2010-15; he was fired in May 2015. He became the Minnesota Timberwolves head coach in 2016, where he resided for two and a half seasons before being fired in January 2019.
Thibodeau feels his experience working with high-profile coaches has helped him build relationships with players.
“You go back to your past — being around people who have done great things. At Team USA. I’ve worked with Doc Rivers, Jeff Van Gundy, Brendan Malone, not just great head coaches but assistants and great college coaches.
“The thing that stood out being around [Mike Krzyzewski], Jim Boeheim and [Team USA managing director] Jerry Colangelo, these are Hall of Fame guys who still wanted to do great things and be driven and wanted to learn. They don’t want to stay the same.’’
Knicks president Leon Rose and executive vice president/senior basketball advisor William Wesley worked with Thibodeau at Creative Artists Agency.