Former Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Tom Thibodeau is still the favorite to land the New York Knicks' head-coaching job despite Jason Kidd's “great interview” with the club, per Marc Berman of the New York Post.
Since Thibodeau already has a rapport with Leon Rose, most league observers had a sense that New York's vacant coaching gig was always “Thibodeau’s job to lose.”
While sources says Jason Kidd wowed Knicks brass with “a great interview,” it might not be enough to topple Tom Thibodeau, whose relationship with Knicks president Leon Rose and senior vice president William Wesley should prove insurmountable. They repped Thibodeau at Creative Artists Agency.
Multiple sources insist this was always “Thibodeau’s job to lose’’ — and probably hasn’t.
“I think Tom and Leon can get the Knicks back to 50 wins,’’ one league source said. “And the Knicks need wins. Tom having Leon there is the key.’’
Thibodeau has a regular-season coaching record of 352-246 with the Bulls and Timberwolves. He was the 2010-11 Coach of the Year with the Bulls and helped the Timberwolves snap their playoff drought in 2017-18 with the help of Jimmy Butler.
Moreover, Thibs served as an assistant coach with the Knicks from 1996 to 2003, so he's familiar with the Big Apple.
Before the 2019-20 season was suspended in March, New York racked up 21 wins. The team finished the campaign with the fourth-worst record in the Eastern Conference. The franchise has been a joke since the 2012-13 season. That was the last time a Knicks team had a winning record and made the playoffs.
Rose has a lot of work to do to turn the organization into a winner again, but the first step is to hire the right head coach.
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