Ian Begley, SNY.tv | Twitter |

During an appearance on Sirius XM NBA Radio, former Knicks head coach Jeff Van Gundy was asked about the possibility of Tom Thibodeau coaching in New York.

Several coaches and agents with a vested interest in the Knicks coaching search believe team president Leon Rose is most likely to hire Thibodeau if he decides not to retain Mike Miller.

Here's what Van Gundy told SiriusXM NBA Radio hosts Eddie Johnson and Justin Termine about Thibodeau, who was an assistant under Van Gundy in New York:

"Well I feel a little uncomfortable talking about a situation that is fluid and they have a coach in place that I worked with in USA Basketball in Mike Miller, who's an absolutely fantastic basketball coach. But irrespective of the Knicks, Tom Thibodeau is a great, great basketball coach. Like, great. And I think unfortunately for him the perception of him on the sidelines as this gruff, nasty dude is not even close to who is he personally. Like, he is a great guy. He's fun to be around. He's enjoyable to be around, and he loves basketball. He loves NBA basketball and he works at it and he is elite in his profession.

"I hope he gets another opportunity to be a head coach because if you look at his body of work he certainly deserves it and any team that may interview him or hire him would be very fortunate to have him as a head coach. He gets thought of as a defensive coach but if you look at his best teams in Chicago and in Minnesota, they were very high-level, statistically speaking, offensive teams and I think it's been overlooked when people try to evaluate Tom from the outside. Tremendous, well-balanced, good player development - he's gotten young players much, much better. So not speaking about the Knicks job, but speaking in general, Tom Thibodeau is one of the best coaches in the world and I hope to see him get another head job."

Thibodeau, Miller, Kenny Atkinson and Mike Woodson are all expected to get interviews during the Knicks' coaching search.

Video: Is Kenny Atkinson in play for Knicks head coach?

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