Given the context, the Knicks just completed one of the worst five-day stretches in recent memory.
New York blew a 23-point lead in a loss to Portland on Sunday. They lost at home on Monday to a Thunder team that had lost 12 of 15 and was missing its top two players. Then on Wednesday, they blew an 18-point fourth quarter lead to a Nets team that didn’t have Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving or Ben Simmons.
It’s the kind of stretch that can lead to major changes in pro sports.
Which leads to the obvious question: is Tom Thibodeau’s job safe?
Only Knicks owner James Dolan, team president Leon Rose and executive vice president William Wesley know the precise answer to that question.
What we know: Even before the brutal loss to the Nets, confidence in Thibodeau had diminished among some people of influence at Madison Square Garden.
The Knicks have been inconsistent in all aspects of the game – except blowing double-digit leads.
They’ve looked nothing like the team that earned the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference last season.
How much of that is the head coach’s fault?
I don’t think it makes sense to place all of the blame at his feet. The offseason acquisitions made by management (Kemba Walker, Evan Fournier) haven’t worked out.
Nerlens Noel and Derrick Rose – two key factors in New York’s success last season – have been sidelined by injuries.
Thibodeau won Coach of the Year in 2021. He didn’t forget how to coach in the past 10 months.
But Thibodeau’s rotations and lineups haven’t yielded success.
And the connection/chemistry between Thibodeau, his staff and the players hasn’t been the same this season as it was last year.
You could probably say the same for any NBA team that regresses after a strong season.
But at the same time, any friction between coaching staff and players can’t simply be dismissed. And it gets magnified when the team is losing.
Some players privately questioned how he handled the benching of Walker earlier in the season. Walker said that he and Thibodeau didn’t speak for a significant stretch after Thibodeau decided to bench him.
Some players also felt that not everyone was being held to the same standard in the wake of Walker’s benching.
If you couple these issues with the Knicks’ performance on the court, it’s clear that something is amiss within the organization.
Does that mean that Thibodeau is on the verge of being fired?
That would surprise me for a few reasons:
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You would think that Thibodeau has at least earned the right to coach this team with a healthy Rose. Rose said that he expected to return shortly after the All-Star break.
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You would think winning Coach of the Year last season also gives Thibodeau some room for error. Also, you would think his relationship with team president Leon Rose gives him some more room for error.
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Thibodeau agreed to a five-year deal with the Knicks when he was hired. At least three of those years are guaranteed. So the Knicks and Dolan would have to pay Thibodeau significant money not to coach if they fire him now. (Dolan has shown that he has no problem signing off on firings of coaches and execs who have guaranteed money on their contracts. Also, the owner didn’t seem happy with what he saw on Wednesday. Dolan usually stays around on the court after games to chat with friends. He left his seat abruptly after Cam Thomas hit a game-sealing three-pointer in the fourth.)
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If the Knicks fire Thibodeau now, wouldn’t that be an admission by Rose that his hand-picked coach was the wrong person for the job?
For all of these reasons, I’d be surprised if Thibodeau didn’t at least get the opportunity to coach the team for the rest of the season.
Thibodeau hinted after the game that he may start to play the young players over the veterans after the All-Star break.
“You try to get some sort of rhythm and consistency and that’s what we’ve been lacking. Everything’s on the table now, it has to be,” he said. “It’s got to be merit-based, it has to be. I’m not just going to give minutes to give minutes.”
When asked to elaborate on that point, Thibodeau said: “You look at everything. What are you going to do, how are we going to manage this. It has to be merit-based. A guy is playing good, he plays. If the team is functioning well when he’s on the floor, he should play. That’s the mots important thing. The team has to come first for everyone. This can’t be about what’s best for any one individual. It’s what’s best for the group. That’s the way it’s got to be. We have to do what we have to do. We got a chance to reset here. We all have to take a hard look at what’s going on and we got to figure out how we can do it better.”
Thibodeau also spoke optimistically about the Knicks building a young core.
“We’ve got a young team that can get better and that’s where we have to concentrate. Get these guys better,” said the head coach. “Look, (Mitchell Robinson’s) development, (RJ Barrett’s) development, (Quentin Grimes’) development, (Immanuel Quickley), Obi (Toppin) – that’s where our focus is, right, and Julius (Randle) is still young and can still grow.
“…. We need a competitive spirit, we need hard playing guys, work ethic’s important, like how you compete is important, all that stuff. Like often times these games it comes down to will. It’s like who’s getting to that loose ball who’s getting to that second shot, sometimes just getting your fingernail on it makes the difference between winning and losing. That’s the way we have to look at it, we have to be first to the floor, we can’t be standing, looking, looking at each other, you’re not going to win like that.”