What the Hell are the Knicks Doing?

Why, when the Knicks finally become a relevant team again, do they continue to do the same old nonsense. When I read that they had relieved Tom Thibodeau of his head coaching duties, I thought it was a misprint. It had to be a typo was the thought running through my brain.

Why would the Knicks let the head coach go that has given them the most success in 25 years? Without Thibs, they don't hire Rick Brunson and they don't acquire Jalen Brunson. Without Thibs, Mikail Bridges is still on the Nets, begging to be with the Knicks. Without Thibs, they don't pull the trigger and make the trade for Karl Anthony Towns last offseason. Without Thibs, the Knicks are not a perennial playoff contender. Without Thibs, the Knicks don't come close to sniffing the East Finals. I understand that a lot of other stuff led them to where they got this season, but the head coach was at the front of it all.

I cannot believe there were some legitimate sports writers applauding this move and saying it is a good thing for the sport. That is utterly absurd to me. I have had my issues with Tom Thibodeau in the past. I thought the Timberwolves were foolish to give him the role as GM as well as head coach when they hired him. I believe he plays his starters way too many minutes. I do think he takes every single regular season game too seriously. And I will go to my grave believing he was playing Derrick Rose way too much, and he sped up Rose's first bad knee injury. All of that is true, but so is the stuff I mentioned prior to that. And Thibs was the perfect fit in New York, especially with this roster and this coaching staff.

As for where they go from here, who knows. When I saw some early names being floated I laughed at some of them. Tom Izzo and John Calipari are college guys, and Calipari is only truly good at recruiting high school kids. His X's and O's coaching leaves a ton to be desired. Jay Wright seems way too comfortable on tv, and why would he want the headache of being the head man for the Knicks at this point in his life? Michael Malone, who I like, is pretty much a clone of Thibodeau, except he lets a few more of his bench players play. He is just as gruff and will fight even more with the front office. So who does this leave the Knicks left to search for? No one in a comfortable situation would leave to coach in New York. JB Bickerstaff has a good thing going in Detroit. Kenny Atkinson needs to prove he can win more than one playoff series with the Cavs. Steve Kerr may well retire whenever Steph leaves Golden State. Taylor Jenkins needs to take a less prestigious head job to get back on his feet. I just don't see already established head coaches jumping at this job.

I also have to mention the front office, most notably team owner James Dolan. Shouts out to RD for mentioning this to me earlier today. Who in the hell in their right mind would want to coach the Knicks while he still owns the team. He had to be the driving force in letting Tom Thibodeau go. I'm sure he made a bunch of excuses related to thinking Thibs didn't do a good job. Thibs did a great job. Like I said at the top, he made the Knicks relevant again for the first time since Carmelo Anthony was playing there.

I hate this new era with how cutthroat it is for coaches in the NBA. Guys, good guys who understand the game come and go so quickly now, and it is frustrating as hell. Unless the Knicks can get a younger version of Greg Popovich or Phil Jackson, they're going to take a major, major step back next year, and I bet they will miss Thibs so much more than they realize right now. This is crummy news and it is, dare I say, unfair to Tom Thibodeau. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

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