The Ahtletic has an article about why Thibs' reputation around the league is wrong and our players lay out why they love playing for him
Last April, as the playoffs approached and the New York Knicks were well on their way to the franchise’s best season in a decade, The Athletic published an anonymous player poll in which their coach, Tom Thibodeau, was the leading vote-getter in a most unflattering category: The coach whom players would least like to play for.
It wasn’t even close, either, with Thibodeau receiving 43.6 percent of the votes and then-Houston Rockets coach Stephen Silas a distant second at 14.5 percent. Add in the fact Thibodeau had become a two-time winner of this unwelcome award, having also taken the (dis)honor when this poll was last published in 2019, and it’s safe to say his reputation as an old-school leader in these new-age times was alive and well.
“That poll, for me — and excuse my language — but it doesn’t mean s—,” DiVincenzo, who played for Golden State last season and signed a four-year, $50 million deal with New York last summer, told The Athletic after the Knicks’ win over the Warriors on Monday night. “I’ve seen the poll, but I signed here.”
His ringing endorsement continued from there.
“I don’t care (about Thibodeau’s reputation),” DiVincenzo continued. “I don’t care. Guys in the NBA now (are different) than before. Everybody wants the game all offense. Nobody wants to come in and practice. But me, being my first year here, I think he’s done a great job of balancing things.
“From the outside world, there’s always (a different view). But in our house — in-house — we have a good dynamic and we enjoy it and everybody enjoys being around each other. To the outside world, you don’t really know. All you know is perception. All you know is the history from other teams (Thibodeau has coached) and his years with different organizations. But we’ve had plenty of rest days, plenty of off days.”
And rumor has it, I shared with DiVincenzo, that Thibodeau practices aren’t nearly as hard as advertised these days.
“They’re not,” DiVincenzo confirmed. “I played for (the Warriors’ Steve) Kerr and played for Coach Bud (former Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer). It’s not like you come here and all of a sudden you’re just running track every day (in practice). I think what he does by far better than anybody I’ve been around is he’s the most prepared. So it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to go for two hours on your feet and running. But when you’re in there, you’re gonna lock in and you’re gonna get the stuff done and we’re gonna get out of there.”
As is the case with any coach whose contract situation is in question, the outcome of the postseason will surely matter when it comes to what comes next. His current deal runs through the 2024-25 season, but league sources say he hopes to secure his future with the Knicks when both sides plan to revisit the topic this summer. At this rate, the Knicks might wind up hoping they’d decided to get something done with Thibodeau before the recent explosion of coaching salaries.
For those who might have missed the economic boom on this front, take a look at this list of recent deals that have drastically changed the market:
Monty Williams signs a six-year, $78.5 million deal with Detroit in May.
Gregg Popovich signs a five-year extension reportedly worth more than $80 million with San Antonio in July.
Erik Spoelstra signs an eight-year extension worth more than $100 million with Miami in January.
Doc Rivers signs a deal with Milwaukee in January that runs through the 2026-27 season and is worth approximately $40 million combined.
Steve Kerr signs a two-year, $35 million extension with Golden State in February.
League sources say Thibodeau, by comparison, makes an annual salary in the neighborhood of $7 million. All signs point to a well-deserved raise likely coming his way.
In the here and now, though, Thibodeau’s focus is on these Knicks fighting through all this adversity and raising as much hoops hell as they can when it matters most. And the coach so many players would least like to play for, it seems, has total buy-in from the ones who couldn’t be happier that he’s their coach.
“I think confidence comes from demonstrated ability, like the fact that we’ve won with players being out (means) there’s a belief that we can do it. If we stay disciplined and do the things that we should do, we’ll have a chance to win.”
