{"id":1994513,"date":"2026-06-17T10:00:24","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T07:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1994513"},"modified":"2026-06-17T10:00:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T07:00:24","slug":"tom-thibodeau-the-knicks-forgotten-man-should-always-be-remembered-for-this-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1994513","title":{"rendered":"Tom Thibodeau, the Knicks\u2019 forgotten man, should always be remembered for this championship"},"content":{"rendered":"
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You have been fired or laid off, and your replacement immediately takes the company to unprecedented heights while receiving the universal praise reserved for the geniuses of your craft.<\/p>\n

Are you happy for that person or that employer?<\/p>\n

Human nature offers the obvious answer. If I were fired or laid off one year and my replacement won a Pulitzer Prize the next, I would not be throwing a ticker-tape parade for that person. (Columnist\u2019s note: I\u2019m thrilled I wasn\u2019t Pablo Torre\u2019s<\/a> predecessor.)<\/p>\n

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Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mike Brown just won his Pulitzer with the NBA champion New York Knicks, and on Thursday, he is getting his ticker-tape parade. You would think Tom Thibodeau has to feel a certain kind of way about this, since he\u2019s still wondering why his five seasons of meritorious service building a wretched Knicks team into a contender didn\u2019t earn him another shot.<\/p>\n

On top of that, Thibodeau was the son of a Connecticut purchasing agent who adored the Knicks, especially the two championship teams from the Red Holzman era. Thibs savored every second of his time working for Jeff Van Gundy in Madison Square Garden in the 1990s. Later, as a Boston Celtics assistant, he was overwhelmed when coaching with Willis Reed, a hero to two generations of Thibodeaus, during the league\u2019s All-Star weekend rookie-sophomore game.<\/p>\n

The Knicks were always Thibodeau\u2019s dream job. \u201cHe would crawl to Madison Square Garden,\u201d a friend of his said years ago.<\/p>\n

Thibodeau was said to be heartbroken when owner James Dolan and team president Leon Rose, his former agent, fired him after he led the Knicks to their first Eastern Conference finals appearance in a quarter-century. Without Thibs and his long-standing professional and personal relationship with Rick Brunson, Jalen Brunson might not even be on this team.<\/p>\n

But Dolan and Rose wanted a coach who collaborated more with a front office that chafed at Thibodeau\u2019s perceived unwillingness to act on their suggestions, and perceived inflexibility when it came to reducing the starters\u2019 minutes and developing the bench. They swung and missed on several accomplished and employed candidates before deciding the unemployed Brown was their man.<\/p>\n

Replacing Thibodeau with a coach who had been fired four times was a pretty bold roll of the dice. It didn\u2019t come up snake eyes.<\/p>\n

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Three Takeaways from the Knicks’ first championship in 53 years<\/div>\n
Jay King<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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