Jeff Van Gundy: Knicks Candidate ‘Tom Thibodeau Is One Of The Best Coaches In The World’

Jeff Van Gundy feels an allegiance to interim Knicks coach Mike Miller because they worked together with USA Basketball.

So Van Gundy admittedly feels “uncomfortable” when it comes to talking about potential replacements for Miller when it comes to the full-time Knicks gig.

Still, Van Gundy didn’t hesitate in calling Tom Thibodeau — long reported as the Knicks’ top target — “one of the best coaches in the world.”

“Speaking in general, Tom Thibodeau is one of the best coaches in the world and I hope to see him get another head job,” Van Gundy said on SiriusXM NBA Radio with hosts Eddie Johnson and Justin Termine.

Now that the Knicks are officially done for the season, new President Leon Rose is free and clear to interview coaching candidates, including Thibodeau, Miller and former Nets coach Kenny Atkinson.

Thibodeau, 62, has been linked to the job for some time. The New Britain, Conn., native went 255-139 (.647) in five seasons with the Bulls and is 352-246 (.589) in stints with the Bulls and Timberwolves.

“He would walk here for that job,” a league source said when Thibodeau was linked to the Knicks job several years ago.

Van Gundy said there is a perception that Thibodeau is “gruff,” but that he would actually be “fun” to be around.

“I think unfortunately for him the perception of him on the sidelines as this gruff, nasty dude is not even close to who is he personally,” Van Gundy said.

“Like, he is a great guy. He’s fun to be around. He’s enjoyable to be around, and he loves basketball. He loves NBA basketball and he works at it and he is elite in his profession. I hope he gets another opportunity to be a head coach because if you look at his body of work he certainly deserves it and any team that may interview him or hire him would be very fortunate to have him as a head coach.”

Another knock on Thibodeau has been that he overplays older players and doesn’t develop younger ones.

Considering the Knicks are rebuilding around younger players like R.J. Barrett, Kevin Knox and Mitchell Robinson, that might not be ideal. The Knicks also have two first-round picks in the now-October NBA Draft, and will presumably be looking to add an elite point guard like LaMelo Ball, Tyrese Haliburton or R.J. Hampton.

New Jersey native, former Rose client and NBA star Karl-Anthony Towns said last July that Thibodeau’s dealing with younger players was “a slap in the face to their development.”

“The culture we’re building here is very special,” said Towns, who recently lost his mother to COVID-19 but still joined Stephen Jackson in protesting to support George Floyd and “Black Lives Matter.”

“I’m very glad we’re introducing [rookies Jarrett] Culver and [Jaylen] Nowell to a culture that we possess now. I don’t think the situation before would have been very beneficial to them.”

Still, Van Gundy touted Thiboudeau’s player development skills.

“He gets thought of as a defensive coach but if you look at his best teams in Chicago and in Minnesota they were very high level statistically speaking offensive teams and I think it’s been overlooked when people try to evaluate Tom from the outside,” he said.

“Tremendous well-balanced, good player development – he’s gotten young players much, much better. So not speaking about the Knicks job, but speaking in general, Tom Thibodeau is one of the best coaches in the world and I hope to see him get another head job.”