There’s always some sort of drama or controversy with the New York Knicks and their fans. If it’s not one thing, it’s the other.
On Saturday, it was their coaching hire. The Knicks are moving forward to make former Bulls and Timberwolves head coach Tom Thibodeau their next head coach, according to a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The two sides are in the middle of hammering out the final details on a contract that would keep Thibodeau in New York for the next five years. It will be on him to shape the prime of R.J. Barrett and Mitchell Robinson’s careers.
The New York Knicks and Tom Thibodeau are finalizing a five-year deal to make him the franchise’s next coach, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 25, 2020
You can already hear the sound of creaking knees in the background just reading that tweet.
The Knicks are in a unique space. They’ve got a ton of young talent on that team starting with Barrett and Robinson. They needed a coach who could help bring out their best while also shaping their future.
And Thibodeau definitely has one part of that down. Let’s, uh, leave the Timberwolves aside for a sec. He coached Derrick Rose to an MVP season, turned Jimmy Butler and Luol Deng into All-Stars and turned Joakim Noah into a Defensive Player of the Year.
On the other hand? He ran also ran pretty much all of them into the ground — Jimmy Butler is an exception because he’s a cyborg.
Thibodeau is known to grind his players away with heavy minutes and that concerns a lot of Knicks fans.
The jokes were pretty funny, though.
RJ Barrett’s knees pic.twitter.com/sgVSpqPITt
— Stephen A. Smith Burner (@SASBurnerAcct) July 25, 2020
how am i going to explain to my children that Elfrid Payton just played 48 minutes
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) July 25, 2020
RJ’s knees after 2 seasons with Thibs pic.twitter.com/Na5SAt57P9
— kyle/Free agent nba fan (@knicks_tape99) July 25, 2020
all i know is pain https://t.co/hJOFfdYHWa
— tarrytown practice facility stan account (@kaelinphoebe) July 25, 2020
Knicks really hired Thibs like he didn’t ruin the T-Wolves pic.twitter.com/w0JeahEDIT
— Barflaan Tedoe (@The_Barftender) July 25, 2020
Knicks fans trying to save RJ Barrett’s knees before they get destroyed pic.twitter.com/fuHsbC2alO
— Jack Borman (@jrborman13) July 25, 2020
Rj Barrett knees after two weeks of games with tom thibodeau coaching the knicks pic.twitter.com/tVuyBxWH6P
— john (@iam_johnw) July 25, 2020
RJ Barrett and Kevin Knox Knees by game number 10: pic.twitter.com/iSdjkdhzrc
— 𝗕𝗥𝗬💫 💜💛 (@BryMontana) July 25, 2020
In light of the Thibs news for the Knicks, I’m just going to pray for RJ Barrett and Mitchell Robinson’s knees man.
— Chris Williamson (@CWilliamson44) July 25, 2020
It’s all good, Knicks fans. There are a couple of silver linings, at least! First, at least it’s not Jason Kidd. Second, we get to use this Vine again!
*Day 1*
KNICKS PLAYERS: “hey coach, welcome! we usually shoot around for a couple minutes, practice some plays, then go watch some film.”
TOM THIBODEAU: pic.twitter.com/f8L07iEObP
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) July 25, 2020
Ah, yes. Everything comes full circle. Finally.
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