Breaking: Thibodeau Fired; Top 3 Candidates For Next Knicks Head Coach

In a surprising turn of events at Madison Square Garden, the New York Knicks have fired longtime head coach Tom Thibodeau, despite taking the team to the playoffs for the 4th time in five years after they had missed the postseason seven straight years before Thibs arrived.

So what’s next? With a talent-laden roster, there will be a slew of big names clamouring to take over the reins in Manhattan. We’ll take a look at the top three notable candidates.

Thibs led the Knicks to the Eastern Conference finals this season, only to lose in six games to the Indiana Pacers. That was not good enough for GM Leon Rose. The next bench boss will obviously be under a lot of pressure, as it seems that for this Knicks team at this point, it’s a Trip to the Finals or Bust.

So we start our look at potential Thibodeau replacements with a man who took his last team to an NBA championship only two years ago.

Michael Malone

Malone was shockingly fired by the Denver Nuggets with just three games to go in the regular season this year, as the team was struggling down the stretch. But Malone had an excellent .590 winning percentage in 10 seasons with the Nuggets.

As for his fit in New York, Malone is a former Knicks assistant. And his father, Brendan Malone, was a Knicks assistant before him, on three separate occasions. And he's a New Yorker, born in Queens. Sounds like a natural fit.

Mike Budenholzer

Another recent (well, okay, somewhat recent) championship coach, Budenholzer led the Milwaukee Bucks to the NBA title in 2021. Though you could really argue that it was Giannis Antetokounmpo who willed the Bucks to the title. Budenholzer's playoff decision-making has always come into question, and don't even get us started on his one season that just concluded as the head coach with the Phoenix Suns. On a team led by Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, the Suns were a mess under Budenholzer, going 36-46 and missing the playoffs, leading to his ouster despite four more years to run on his five-year, $50 million contract.

Jeff Van Gundy

Now here's a blast from the past. Knicks fans still remember (and love) Van Gundy as the last head coach to lead the team to the NBA Finals... though that was in the last century, 1999. But as noted by Sam Quinn of CBS Sports, this would be a "feel-good story", as JVG is "a beloved figure in the New York market."

Only thing is, he hasn't been a head coach for 18 years. After nearly two decades as one of the best TV commentators in the sport, can Van Gundy now make the move back to head coach?

He did make a return to the bench as an assistant with the LA Clippers this past season. And as Quinn notes, it was "an unmitigated success".

No doubt we'll be hearing other names pop up as the process unfolds, but we've got our money on Malone.