The New York Knicks are reportedly zeroing in on current Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd to fill its bench-boss vacancy after firing Tom Thibodeau earlier this week.
The Knicks fired Tom Thibodeau on Tuesday to the shock of many of the teams fans. His ouster came after New York’s first trip to the Eastern Conference Finals since 2000.
After names like Jay Wright, Dan Hurley, Mike Malone, and Johnnie Bryant have been thrown around to replace Thibodeau, New York is focusing on a former player, per Marc Stein.
Kidd was a legendary NBA player from 1994 through 2013, with him beginning his coaching career immediately after retirement.
Kidd has been the head coach for the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks before a stint as an assistant for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Since 2021, Kidd has been the head-man in Dallas, with the team likely to try to retain him if the Knicks make an offer.
The New York Knicks are zeroing in on current Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd
The Knicks fired Tom Thibodeau and are looking for a new leader for Jalen Brunson and co.
The Knicks’ choice for their next head coach has to be one that brings a championship banner to Madison Square Garden, or it will be viewed as an unsuccessful tenure.
Earlier this week, NBA insider Brian Windhorst has revealed Thibodeau was fired by the Knicks for making personnel changes too late into the season.
‘What Tom Thibodeau did to his coaching strategy during the Eastern Conference finals might’ve assured his firing. What I mean by that is after falling down 2-0 in that series, he made a whole bunch of changes,’ Windhorst said on ‘Get Up’.
‘He changed his starting lineup. Then he extended multiple players into his bench – something that players, team personnel, and people across the league had been begging him to do for months. He also changed some of his strategies within the coaching of the game, and it worked.’
Yet, the changes may have been a little too late, in moves that were reactive and not proactive, to keep him with the franchise.
Kidd may be the beneficiary of Thibodeau sticking to his original plans for too long.
