New Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau grew up in New Britain, Connecticut, and still owns his old home, 85 miles from the Knicks’ practice site in Tarrytown.
During his introductory Zoom press conference on Thursday, Thibodeau referred to his new position as his “dream job.” He said it four times.
“This is a dream come true for me,” said Thibodeau. “This is the job of my dreams. … Maybe part of that, I grew up in Connecticut. My father, my family, we grew up as Knicks fans. I have been there before, I have a great understanding of New York. I think we have the best city in the world, the best stadium and the best fans. I was there during the 90s and it was an incredible experience. ”
For the first time in nearly eight months, the Knicks officially have a permanent head coach. They announced it on the first day of the restart of 22 NBA teams as the Knicks try to restart their dead franchise that has missed the playoffs for seven consecutive years.
Larry Brown once called the Knicks his “dream job” and left after a 17-65 disaster. Thibodeau is a former glory days assistant coach in the 1990s who became a Bulls coach and even broke the 13-year drought in the Minnesota playoffs in 2018.
But now Thibodeau can face a bigger task with James Dolan’s dying Knicks. When asked how a permanent disaster can change, Thibodeau did not shy away from mentioning a championship, which the team has not won in 47 years.
“You don’t make big jumps without going through every step,” he said. “So I think the first step is to establish the work ethic and how we want to play. There is much work to be done. One of the most important things when you study a team is just looking at efficiency and when you see your [net rating] it’s a minus-6.54, you realize there’s a lot of work. And hopefully we can get players to play with each other and start developing those habits.
“Of course, the ultimate goal is to bring a championship to the city, where it is synonymous with winning and championships, and that is in New York.”
Knicks president Leon Rose will be hard-pressed if Thibodeau’s old school ways don’t work. Rose, his former agent at the Creative Artists Agency, said there was “a comfort level” in hiring Thibodeau because of their long-term relationship.
Rose called Thibodeau, 62, “the perfect candidate for this job from the point of view that it will demand accountability, it will have development, and it will create a winning culture.”
“We hired not only a great basketball coach, but also an elite coach,” Rose said. “His principles and goals embody everything that Knicks basketball represents.”
On Saturday Thibodeau accepted the terms of a five-year contract. Some league experts estimate that the deal could be worth at least $ 25 million, even with a pandemic discount that will likely cause his Knicks debut to be played without the assistance of fans.
Thibodeau thanked Dolan in his prepared comments and listed 15 coaches from whom he had taken tidbits, from Jeff Van Gundy to Bill Musselman. And Thibodeau called the former Knicks coaches he worked with “the best staff ever assembled.” Guys like Brendan Malone, Don Chaney, Jeff Nix, Steve Clifford, Andy Greer, Mike Malone, lots of head coaches in the league today. ”
Thibodeau led the Timberwolves to the playoffs, but the charges he failed to connect with the young Minnesota players led to his dismissal in January 2019.
Thibodeau declined to elaborate on Minnesota.
“It was more of a total rebuild, a team that hadn’t won much in a long time,” he said. “So I think you take from each experience, but each experience is different.”
Sources indicated that Thibodeau was intrigued by the possible start in Houston, but said he was attracted to the Knicks because of the flexibility of the cap and its large number of draft picks (seven first-round picks in the next four drafts).
“The top three reasons this job was so appealing to me was the current roster we have now is young and talented and there is room for growth,” Thibodeau said. “That is exciting for me. Second, it is working for Leon and Wes. [William Wesley], two people I have known for a long time. And in third place are all the draft selections that have been acquired and also the limit space. We have many different ways to improve the team. ”
Thibodeau tried to dispel his reputation as a humorless, basketball-obsessed exercise sergeant with no other life. He joked with this long-time Knicks writer, saying, “I can’t believe you’re still around,” and denied that all he did during unemployment was visit other teams’ practices, which he did in abundance.
“I went on vacation a few times,” said Thibodeau. “I know that people don’t think I do that. But I ran away and lay down on a beach in Miami for a couple of weeks. ”
The Knicks interviewed 11 candidates for seven weeks, but Thibodeau was reported as the all-time favorite.
“We did our due diligence on this search,” Rose said. “We had an open mind and we were listened to by many diverse candidates with various philosophies. The thoroughness of the search is what we feel the fans deserved. We wanted to get it right. “
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