Tom Thibodeau coached Taj Gibson on the Chicago Bulls and then again on the Minnesota Timberwolves. Will the former Coach of the Year coach Gibson on the New York Knicks next?
It's very possible. New Knicks president Leon Rose — who will officially be introduced by the Knicks after the All-Star break — has a very close relationship with Thibodeau.
A lot of pundits don't believe Thibodeau is the right guy to coach the Knicks. It's mainly because he's too old school and pushes his players hard in practice.
Gibson, however, says Thibodeau is very misunderstood and only cares about one thing: winning. That's something the Knicks desperately need, as they've been losing for so long now under owner James Dolan.
“Since I’ve been here, a lot of those old Knicks players always come up to me and they loved Thibs,’’ Gibson told Marc Berman of The New York Post. “They worshipped the guy. It’s crazy.
“Guys get multiple chances when you look around the league. He’s been misunderstood. A lot of players have different mindsets. His mindset is winning. To win games you got to go through a lot of hard work. Sometimes young players don’t understand it.
“There was misperception. He wanted to win. He’s just trying to make guys better players. Some people take it as being hard. He’s going to push you. He always wants the best out of you. It was easy for me to learn early in my career. He had a bunch of guys in Chicago willing to learn, willing to listen in Chicago. They were young guys who really wanted to listen.”
Thibodeau was fired by the Timberwolves last season in January. He was hanging out with the Golden State Warriors this week at practice, where he reunited with Andrew Wiggins.
The Knicks have also been linked to Jeff Van Gundy, who is close with Rose as well.
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