NEW YORK — Tom Thibodeau is apparently is returning to the New York Knicks, who are still seeking the success they enjoyed when he was an assistant two decades ago.
The Knicks are finishing a deal to make Thibodeau their coach, a person with knowledge of the details said Saturday.
No contract has been signed but a deal is expected to be announced next week, the person told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because negotiations were ongoing.
ESPN first reported that the Knicks and Thibodeau were completing a five-year contract.
When they do, the 2011 NBA Coach of the Year with the Chicago Bulls will become the 13th person to coach the Knicks since Jeff Van Gundy resigned early in the 2001-02 season.
Orlando Magic Coach Steve Clifford, a Maine native, was told during his team’s scrimmage at Walt Disney World against the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday that Thibodeau, his longtime friend and confidant, was going to get the New York job.
“Look, he’s one of my closest friends,” Clifford said. “He’s one of the best coaches in the league and he understands New York. He was in New York for a long time. New York is a different animal. He understands the fan base. He understands the New York media and he’s a great, great coach. So, he’ll do great there and it’s a great hire on their part.”
Thibodeau was an assistant under Van Gundy, who led the Knicks to the 1999 NBA finals and into the postseason in every season he was there. New York has reached the playoffs just three times since Van Gundy’s departure.
The Knicks went 21-45 this season, missing the playoffs for a seventh straight year. Mike Miller finished the season as interim coach after David Fizdale was fired 22 games into the season.
New Knicks President Leon Rose interviewed a number of candidates before choosing Thibodeau from a field that included Jason Kidd, former Brooklyn Coach Kenny Atkinson and Miller, who impressed Rose while going 17-27 before the season was suspended in March.
San Antonio assistants Will Hardy and Ime Udoka were also candidates. Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich said both will get their opportunities but praised the choice of Thibodeau.
“Tommy’s a seasoned veteran who it goes without saying understands what wins and what loses. He knows how to put a program together, create a culture and be demanding – and at the same time, make people accountable,” Popovich said.
“It’s easy to demand things, but to make people accountable and want to play the right way is not something that’s easy for everybody to do. But Tom knows it inside and out and he’ll be a great choice to organize the situation there, develop a plan, start the culture, stick to it, be persistent and get after it. So it’s a great choice.”
Thibodeau is regarded as a demanding coach who is one of the top defensive minds in the game. He devised the defense that carried the Boston Celtics to the 2008 NBA championship as an assistant before becoming Chicago’s coach in 2010.
He guided the Bulls to a 62-20 record as a rookie head coach, the first of five straight postseason berths even as the team battled constant injuries to star guard Derrick Rose and others.
Overall, he is 352-246 as a head coach. He led the Minnesota Timberwolves to the postseason in 2018 but was fired the next year during a rocky season that began with star Jimmy Butler asking to be traded.
PELICANS: Zion Williamson will be out of quarantine by the time New Orleans plays in the first official game of the NBA restart at Walt Disney World.
The NBA said Williamson will have to serve a four-day quarantine for leaving the league’s Disney bubble on July 16 to tend to an urgent family matter. He returned on Friday night and immediately went into quarantine.
That means he will likely be released from quarantine sometime Tuesday, two days before the Pelicans play their first game against the Utah Jazz.
Williamson was tested daily during his absence and continually came back negative for COVID-19, which helped his hopes for a shorter quarantine upon his return to Disney. The league has said quarantine for those who leave the bubble can last 10 days or more if those individuals are not tested daily while they are away.
CLIPPERS: A person with knowledge of the matter said the NBA is investigating how long guard Lou Williams should be in quarantine after he left the bubble for personal reasons.
The league’s probe revolves around whether Williams was in a club during his trip to Atlanta for a family member’s funeral, said the person, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
The NBA has a process for determining quarantine length for those who leave the bubble, depending on what people did after they left and if they continued getting daily coronavirus tests. The quarantine period can exceed 10 days if NBA rules are not followed.
The primary issue in Williams’ case is a since-deleted photo of Williams with recording artist Jack Harlow, the person told AP. Williams is wearing an NBA-issued mask in the photo, the sort that is believed to have only been available inside the Disney bubble – and would debunk any argument that the photo had been taken previously.
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