When the Knicks hit the All-Star break amid a 3-13 freefall, a three-game losing streak and a 25-34 record, at least two members of the front office recommended Tom Thibodeau be let go, The Post has learned.
Front-office members thought Thibodeau had, as one source put it, “lost the team.” They didn’t like some of the body language and attentiveness during timeout huddles.
According to the source, Knicks president Leon Rose was dead-set against letting Thibodeau go in his second season and the Knicks coach survived February’s pause.
After a relatively smooth 12-11 record after the break, Thibodeau, the 2021 Coach of The Year, will march on, though it’s uncertain if he has full backing of brass.
Rose’s top advisors are executive VP William Wesley, GM Scott Perry, chief of strategy Brock Aller, assistant GMs Frank Zanin and Walter Perrin and personnel director Makhtar N’diaye. Wesley was the lone executive who traveled with the team to almost all the road games.
But Rose, once Thibodeau’s CAA agent, became the only voice that mattered and he underscored his belief in Thibodeau during an MSG Network interview Sunday. A source said that Thibodeau earned kudos with brass for being willing to play rookie center Jericho Sims over the veterans after the break.
Rose called Thibodeau “one of the best coaches in the NBA” who “prepares our team better than anybody. I feel that he’s done a good job under the circumstances.”
Thibodeau’s Knicks finished at 37-45 and will be back in the NBA draft lottery. Thibodeau said he was going right to work with exit interviews and drilling down on reviewing the disappointing season before moving onto draft study in two weeks.
He’s safe, but not from criticism. Social media savants have ripped him for not playing young power forward Obi Toppin more earlier in the season; giving up too early on Kemba Walker and keeping veteran Alec Burks as the out-of-position point guard.
A common theme was Thibodeau’s stubbornness in going more with younger players before the season got out of hand.
According to one NBA source, the front office – and some players – weren’t thrilled with how the coach handled the enigmatic Julius Randle this season in not holding him more accountable for his miscues.
One of Thibodeau’s lowest moments came before the All-Star break when RJ Barrett sprained his ankle after being left in the game in the final seconds of getting blown out in Denver, costing him four games.
Thibodeau has a terrific regular-season record as a coach (430-322 in 10 seasons) and guided the Knicks to a 41-31 clip and the No. 4 seed last season. But he’s used to the criticism for his hard-driving coaching style, dating to Chicago and Minnesota.
“This is not my first year, OK,” Thibodeau said chuckling when asked about the naysayers.
“Here’s my thing: whether it’s praise or it’s criticism it’s all the same. To me, only you know whether you put everything you have into something. And once you do that, I frankly don’t care. I’m gonna put everything I have into each day and I’m going to live with the results. I don’t think there’s anyone who studies this team harder than I do. It doesn’t mean I’m always right but I know how hard I’m going to study.”
The Knicks offense let them down – not so much the defense, as some have argued. Statistically, the Knicks were a solid defensive rebounding team, among the leaders in allowing points in the paint and their defensive field-goal percentage ranked fifth.
If Thibodeau has been accused of not developing the youngsters, it’s not for lack of trying at their Tarrytown headquarters.
Thibodeau stages a practice-before-the-practice with the young group to give them extra study work. As Toppin and fellow 2020 first-round draft pick Immanuel Quickley surged across the final section of the season, Thibodeau, in fairness, could merit some credit.
Quickley said Sunday night it’s not unusual for the Knicks coach to still be in his office at 11 p.m. Toppin said he calls Thibodeau’s pre-practice “early hoop.”
“We just go over our plays, it’s mainly for all of us to be great with our plays and know what we’re doing when we get in the game,” Toppin said. “So when all the young guys are on the court together, it’s easy because we do it every day before practice.”
