When he was an assistant in New York and Houston and unable to land job interviews to be a head coach, teams wondered if he had any other interests. Even as the NBA has come to lionize the athletes and coaches who share off-court projects, Thibodeau has remained consistently tunnel-visioned. Jeff Van Gundy, his former boss, didn’t know why they cared, or why Thibodeau couldn’t answer the question agreeably.
Tag: Minnesota Timberwolvesm
“Just make up a fucking hobby,” Van …
“Just make up a fucking hobby,” Van Gundy says he told Thibodeau. “Just say you’re a stamp collector. I don’t know why anyone cares, but say you’re a stamp collector.” “To me, it’s not important,” he adds. “The thing that irks me a little bit, and I don’t know when this came to be in America, (is) that working hard in your job became a negative. Everybody thinks if you do a ton of other things it gives you better perspective to do your job better. I always say if you’re going in for surgery, would you want a surgeon who’s well rounded or completely focused on your health?”
His time with the Timberwolves may be …
His time with the Timberwolves may be edifying in what to expect from him as Knicks head coach, a job he was picked for last month. Thibodeau says he used the past year as a learning experience, visiting teams and friends around the NBA. Those close to Thibodeau say they haven’t discussed his Timberwolves days with him, nor see what made it go awry. “I don’t think anything went wrong,” says Eric Musselman, a longtime friend. “I think he did an incredible job.”