The Journey of Tom Thibodeau

In my eyes Tom Thibodeau first made a name for himself as the associate head coach of the Boston Celtics from 2007-2010. While his defensive minded prowess was effective at every stop before arriving in Bean Town, having the likes of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen made his defensive schemes top in the league. Nobody wants to remember it but THIS was the first super team not the Heatles in Miami (That is another topic we can discuss another time.) Ultimately, with this stacked roster offensively, KG was able to focus more on his defense and won his first and only defensive player of the year award in 2008. This same year with the best ranked defense in the league they won the NBA championship under head coach Doc Rivers. Anything is possible with that veteran roster and a defensive coach like Thibs. Shoutout to KG for the legendary quote.

Thibodeau stayed in Boston for another two years eventually moving up the ladder and was named the head coach of the Chicago Bulls in 2010. This was a franchise that has struggled to maintain consistent success in the post Jordan era. Thibs was able to thrive with a roster that was not the most talented. Of course they had Derrick Rose, the young stud who won MVP in 2011. Thibs was able to get those most out of role players such as Luol Deng, Joakim Noah, and Taj Gibson. This successful season in 2011 was the bulls best since the Jordan era. Unfortunately they lost in the Eastern Conference to the aforementioned Miami Heat squad. (Again not the first super team guys and girls.) The following year was another successful regular season for the Bulls. Things took a turn for the worse when Derrick Rose tore his ACL in the playoffs and the Bulls Season was cut short. This was the beginning of the end for Thibs. While he still had success as far as record goes tensions just grew higher and higher between Tom and the Bulls front office.

In 2015 the Bulls decided to move in a different direction and Thibs was on to Minnesota in 2016. He was named the head coach and head of basketball operations. Hiring a coach to be both just seems like a poor choice but this is why I'm just the writer not the decision maker in Minneosota. The T-Wolves made their first playoff appearance since 2004 in Tom's second season. This excitement was short lived as a crazy offseason ensued regarding Jimmy Butler and his departure from the Twin Cities. Thibs was let go the following season.

On July 30th 2020, the Knicks hired Thibodeau to be their head coach. His third such stop in this position. The Knicks have been let's say....a struggling franchise since the turn of the millennium in 2000. With a reputation of running players into the ground at his past stops a team like the Knicks with a young core gave the fan some doubt that Thibs is the guy for the job, but when are we not full of doubt. However, with a small sample size the Knicks are playing good team basketball. They are playing with an edge on both ends that we have not seen in years. This of course is highlighted by the improved play of 3rd overall pick in 2019 RJ Barrett as well as an MVP type of season from Julius Randle. Yes he should receive some votes. Thibs has this team at 500 (27-27) with the 4th best defensive rating in the league heading into tonights matchup with the LA Lakers. If Tom can continue to develop this young nucleus like past Knicks coaches have failed to do, the Knicks can be a playoff team in the tightly packed Eastern Conference. Finally some excitement in Madison Square Garden. Can this be the 63 year old coach's most successful stop on the couching carousel? Only time will tell.