ONLY ONE COACH FOR THE KNICKS AS THIBODEAU GOES: WHAT’S WRIGHT IS RIGHT
New York needs romance as it pursues an NBA championship, and no man is better than Jay Wright, who helped Brunson, Hart and Bridges to national titles and should bolt TV and try at the Garden
Jay Wright coached Jalen Brunson. Jay Wright coached Mikal Bridges. Jay Wright coached Josh Hart. Freeze for another AT&T commercial. Collectively, they won glory at Villanova, which stands as deep meaning today for tortured fans of the New York Knicks. Wright seems happy on CBS, where we see him grin with Charles Barkley, but he also learned about basketball players while studying broadcasting for three seasons.
“You know when I would come to practice and see these gruff guys walking around on the court the day of the game, and I’d say, ‘Get these people out, we’ve got to practice.’ I’d now realize those guys are the producers and the directors that I’m working,” he said weeks ago. “Those people are amazing. They’re so talented. And they work so hard and are so committed and passionate about what they’re doing.”
Does he sound like a man entrenched in retirement? Given his past, given his possible future at age 63, Wright finds himself in perfect position to continue his dreams with the same players and replace Tom Thibodeau as Knicks head coach. Some observers think president Leon Rose, who made the decision with full support from owner Jim Dolan, is acting cowardly in firing a man who advanced to the franchise’s first Eastern Conference finals in 25 years. I think not. Thibodeau has been dumped three times in the NBA. Never has he shown a semblance of winning a title. He is so devoted to the sport and his craft that he has abandoned family life.
Now there’s time to Netflix and chill. The Knicks, led by Brunson’s howling dervishes, should seek Wright and see if two NCAA championships lead to a title on the next level. His hire would electrify a city of knuckleheads and prompt Timothee Chalamet to do a victory lap around Manhattan. He never has been associated with the NBA, and some might suggest he’s the next Billy Donovan, who won twice in college and has done little since. But Rose and Dolan must make a phone call, have a meeting and offer $15 million per season.
Wrong?
Wright.
“Our organization is singularly focused on winning a championship for our fans," Rose said. “This pursuit led us to the decision to inform Tom Thibodeau that we've decided to move in another direction. We can't thank Tom enough for pouring his heart and soul into each and every day of being the New York Knicks head coach.”
Funny, Rose embraced Thibodeau’s future after a Game 6 loss to the Indiana Pacers. So did Brunson, who responded to a reporter: “Is that a real question right now? You just asked me if I believe he's the right guy? Yes. Come on.” But the pressure to win in New York, when small markets Oklahoma City and Indiana are in the Finals, is beyond belief. The Knicks haven’t won a ring in 52 years. They need romance in their pursuit. Wright coached in the ‘90s at Hofstra, on Long Island, before a Hall of Fame career outside of Philadelphia. Why did he leave the college game? “I started to feel like I didn't have the edge that I've always had, where the edge always came natural to me, so I started evaluating it,” he said. “I would never have to think about anything I did, I would just go into a meeting, go into a team meeting. I had everything set.”
Nothing is established on television. He sits through meetings and talks in a studio. There is no challenge. A man doesn’t win twice at a powerhouse and give up forever. Brunson and Hart and Bridges should talk him into it. If not, Michael Malone is available as a coach who won a championship with Denver two years ago — yet, something is odd about his ilk. Frank Vogel won with the Lakers in 2020, then was released and hired by Phoenix, which fired him. Mike Budenholzer won with the Bucks in 2021 and was fired, then was fired after one season by the same Suns. Isn’t Malone a grinder in the mold of Thibodeau? Why replace one machine with another? Without Nikola Jokic, who grew in his system, Malone might be ordinary.
In my mind, a meeting with Dan Hurley makes sense. He grew up across the Hudson River. He won back-to-back national titles at Connecticut and wisely turned down a $70 million deal with the Lakers. He’s also a loon who might not relate to Brunson. Somehow, Hurley could work if he agrees to calm down and relate to the NBA. Is that possible?
Did someone mention, um, Rick Pitino? He struggled as coach, general manager and president of the Celtics and headed to Louisville. He is a collegian, as he has shown at St. John’s. He cannot return to the NBA after two dozen years away. He said in Boston: “Larry Bird is not walking through that door, fans. Kevin McHale is not walking through that door, and Robert Parish is not walking through that door. And if you expect them to walk through that door, they're going to be gray and old. What we are is young, exciting, hard-working, and we're going to improve.” They didn’t.
The NBA needs big-city panache as it greets new champions seven times in seven years. We enjoy Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Tyrese Haliburton, but we need Madison Square Garden in June. The Knicks can’t come close and go away without making a major statement.
Thibs stood on the sideline and grunted. He needs a new life. Let him have it.
Jay Wright also needs a new life. Let him have it.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.