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James Edwards III: Mikal Bridges is here again to watch the Knicks game, sitting near the front office. He's eligible for an extension this summer. Him being here and sitting next to Mike Brown, Leon Rose and Co. is a good sign that something will get done.
Austin Rivers sounds off on his former head coach Tom Thibodeau: He didn't treat me well at all
Speaking on his The Ringer podcast "Off Guard with Austin Rivers," Rivers spoke frankly about his understandable grievances with the way Tom Thibodeau and Knicks general manager Leon Rose handled Rivers' quick tenure with the team. "I'm not really a Thibs guy. I played for him, it wasn't the best experience personally, didn't treat me well at all," Rivers said.
"And the way it went down and the way they handled business was crazy, bro," Rivers revealed. "They brought me to a dark room, it was Leon [Rose], Worldwide Wes [Knicks executive vice president and senior basketball advisor William Wesley], and Thibs. They're all three sitting there in the dark, with like a little light, it's like an interrogation-type thing. 'Hey man, we're gonna move you, we just got Derrick here. Until we find the right spot with you, you don't have to travel with the team anymore.'"
Michael Rubin on Knicks fans: Knicks were a couple years ago, people thought they were always a team that was a joke and they pulled that together. Leon Rose, all those guys, they've done a great job. You got to give mad respect to what they've done. And by the way, Knicks fans are for real. I was last weekend I was at the Champion League finals sitting with the owner of PSG and I put out on my Instagram like US sports fans got to step it up and I think I had like 500 Knicks fans trying to kill me for just accusing them of not being good enough fans cuz I was giving the the PSG and Inter Milan fans props for being such crazy soccer fans and I think the Knicks fans were ready to kill me. Those fans are serious man. You guys are great fans.
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Mike Woodson a 'wild card' for Knicks head coach job
The New York Knicks are striking out with all their current NBA head coach targets right now, so they may have to turn to a former one. Ex-Knicks head coach Mike Woodson is considered to be a “wild card” for the job, Ian Begley of SportsNet New York reported Wednesday during an appearance on the “Knicks Film School” podcast. Begley says that the Knicks will likely “at least have a conversation” with Woodson and notes that Woodson has good relationships with Knicks owner James Dolan, president Leon Rose, and executive William Wesley.
A league source confirmed that Jay Wright and Leon Rose are very close, have a great relationship and speak regularly. Rose knows Wright is very happy in retirement. So leave that name off the list of candidates.
James Dolan spearheaded Tom Thibodeau's dismissal
What was clear was Thibodeau’s firing being spearheaded by Knicks owner James Dolan, sources told Yahoo Sports. Dolan and team president Leon Rose held exit meetings with key Knicks players and the complaints were clear. Dolan, whom sources said was never a huge Thibodeau fan through the years, asked the questions in the meeting while Rose took a secondary role.
Ian Begley: With regard to reports/suggestions of Jay Wright as a Knick coaching candidate, yes, team president Leon Rose & Wright have a close relationship and speak regularly. Because of that, Rose knows Wright is very happy as a retiree, per league source. So Wright is not a candidate for the job, league source said. @SbondyNBA first on it.
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Overall, though, Towns’ first season in New York was a success. He was one of the 15 best players in the NBA, finished second in the league in rebounding with 12.8 rebounds per game and delivered one of the most memorable moments of the season when he scored 20 points in the fourth quarter of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals to rally the Knicks to a win over the Pacers. He was given the nickname “Bodega KAT,” his Dominican roots and late mother’s affinity for the Knicks fostering a natural connection with the city. However, with the franchise’s determination to bring a championship back to the Mecca for the first time in over 50 years, anything could be on the table this summer. “Our organization is singularly focused on winning a championship for our fans,” Rose said in a statement following the firing of Thibodeau, the most successful Knicks coach this century.
For five years, that's exactly what Rose did. Those who know them well marveled at how Rose kept Thibodeau from spiraling over minor issues and focused on the bigger picture. Thibodeau's tendency to wear himself out was fine, as one source put it. But Rose largely kept him from wearing out other people. Managing Dolan was a different feat altogether. Rose did that by earning Dolan's trust with his methodical approach to team-building and by being right about when to go all-in and when to wait for the next hand.
Dan Patrick: And you give him a contract extension last July. It's almost as if—now, okay, this may sound crazy, and I was told this yesterday—what if Leon Rose, who was Thibs' former agent, who's now his boss, wanted to take care of Thibs if, in fact, he got fired? That you get him this contract extension. Because why else would you give him a contract extension if there are already people in the building who do not like him and his style?
Tim MacMahon: But the other thing is, the Knicks have been a dysfunctional franchise forever. And the first opponent that a Knicks head coach has to defeat is the Knicks. That's just the simple fact of the matter. That—and by the way, I didn't—well, I didn't make that line up. I'm borrowing it from people who know. But it is, and there are cliques in the Knicks management, in the front office. Let's just—listen, Thibs and Worldwide Wes are both Leon Rose guys, but they are not each other's guys, and that's been a thing for a while now. That's just the way it is. There have been people in that front office who have been wanting to run Thibs out of there for a couple of years now, at least. And they finally did.
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