Shoutout Tom Thibodeau.
The Knicks do not get here without him. Mike Brown took us to the promised land, so he’s Joshua. That makes Thibs Moses.
He did the hard work of building up a team out of nothing. Coaching hard in a league where players refuse to be coached.
He turned Julius Randle into an all star. Not only did that make the Knicks worth watching for the first time in god knows how long, it eventually made the KAT trade possible.
Before Jalen Brunson came here, this had to be a team worth coming to. Thibs did that.
We don’t beat Boston last year without the culture and work ethic he instilled.
Yes, Thibs didn’t make adjustments. Yes, he played guys for too many minutes. Although I would say the bench was also weaker last year.
Ultimately, with the benefit of hindsight, it’s hard to dispute that it was the right move to hire Mike Brown. But Thibs had the harder job of bringing this franchise out of the gutter to glimpse the sun, and I’m not sure any other coach could have done that.
And it makes me sad that he doesn’t get to share in the glory, and is kind of being forgotten in this moment, when he deserves such an outsized chunk of the credit.
He better have a job next year.
CC
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