Report: Knicks, Tom Thibodeau Extension Gaining Steam
Who wants to be a millionaire, times 10? Tom Thibodeau has apparent interest and the New York Knicks seem ready to help him fulflll that goal.
Per veteran NBA insider Marc Stein, Thibodeau is a "near certainty" to extend his metropolitan contract at "market rate" ... which implies that a $10 million salary is heading his way.
NBA head coaching salaries have surged in recent times thanks to part to the $78 million contract the Detroit Pistons bestowed to Monty Williams. To say that Thibodeau has earned his raise would be the understatement of the year despite his current lack of championships.
The 66-year-old Thibodeau has played a major role in the revival of Knicks basketball and this past season may well have been his magnum opus: despite several major injuries to the Knicks' roster, Thibodeau guided the team to 50 wins and the second seed on the Eastern Conference playoff bracket.
As it stands, Thibodeau ranks fifth in Knicks head coaching victories with 175 and is the first New Yorker to reach his fifth season since Jeff Van Gundy did so in 2000-01. He's also one of five Knick bosses to take the team to the playoffs at least three times, joining Van Gundy, Red Holzman, Joe Lapchick, and Pat Riley.
If Thibodeau were to get the hallowed eight-figure salary, he wouldn't be the first in Knicks history to land such an honor: New York originally inked Larry Brown to a five-year deal with $60 million in 2005 but the basketball veteran wound up lasting but a single season in Manhattan.
GEOFF MAGLIOCCHETTI
Editor-In-Chief at All Knicks