The Knicks continued their headline-making offseason Wednesday afternoon, signing head coach Tom Thibodeau to a three-year extension. Just over a season ago he was on the hot seat, but has since proven to be one of the league’s top coaches (again) and is on pace to be the longest=tenured Knicks coach since the legendary Red Holzman.

Those who have watched the recent successes of these Knicks and have a proper context of the coaches that preceded it should be overjoyed by this news. A franchise once cursed with no consistency or competency in its top leadership positions just signed two well-deserved long-term contracts with their point guard and head coach -- a development that exemplifies how far they’ve come in just a few years.

For that reason and many others, New York was absolutely right in extending Thibodeau.

Younger fans may not remember the “Fire Isiah” chants and Larry Brown-Stephon Marbury rift. New York was a combined 147-329 in the six seasons between Mike Woodson and Thibodeau, with five different coaches in that span.

The coaching carousel issue dated back even further when they cycled through five coaches in six seasons prior to the Mike D’Antoni-Donnie Walsh regime with nothing to show for it. Leon Rose knew he needed stability at the head coaching position to have any chance at success, and went with the veteran Thibodeau.

At that point, Thibodeau was a year removed from his mixed stint in Minnesota, after a highly successful run with the Chicago Bulls and a long assistant career. Given his ties to the franchise, impressive resume, and emphasis on defense, in many ways, he was a perfect fit for a flailing Knicks team.

That proved true out of the gates when a largely unchanged and deeply flawed Knicks roster that went 21-45 the year before emerged as one of the league’s best defenses and finished as the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference. Thibodeau took home Coach of the Year honors for the effort, which included embedding his ultra-high work ethic and defensive effort culture, developing RJ Barrett plus rookies Immanuel Quickley and Obi Toppin, and putting the system in place that gave us All-NBA Julius Randle.

The next year was a top-to-bottom failure, with two key offseason acquisitions weakening the team’s defensive foundation, key players taking steps back and Thibodeau’s winning drive conflicting with the reality of their lost season. Then a month into 2022-23, it was reported Thibodeau’s job was on the line, as the Knicks were 10-13, having just been shellacked by the Dallas Mavericks at home despite leading by double digits.

In a last-ditch effort, Thibodeau upended the established rotation, benching multiple key pieces in favor of players better attuned to his culture, and the team took off. They were a respectable 30-27 come the trade deadline, when the front office fully committed to acquiring Thibodeau style, Thibodeau culture, Thibodeau-built guys, undoing the mistakes of the 2021 offseason.

The Knicks traded for Josh Hart, and they rolled from there, breezing past the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round with some strong coaching out of Thibodeau. Unfortunately, they met an NBA Finals team in Miami next, ending their run.

Going into this past season, New York’s lone offseason move was bringing in another Thibs type in Donte DiVincenzo, making room in the rotation by trading a notoriously non-Thibs player in Toppin. That was merely an appetizer for the big mid-season shake-up, in which they brought in OG Anunoby for two mainstays of the era -- Barrett and Quickley.

This was the climax of the pro-Thibodeau shift in the front office, sending out two young talents loyal to the franchise for maybe the best fit for these Knicks in the league. Anunoby is the ultimate Swiss Army Knife, an elite defender at any position and a plug-and-play offensive threat, reminiscent of Thibodeau’s favored wings of the past like Luol Deng and Jimmy Butler.

That resulted in a monstrous 14-2 January, and the Knicks were primed to be contenders had Randle not lost the rest of his season due to injury. They still managed to come one win shy of the Conference Finals, and coming into 2024-25 with the newly-acquired Mikal Bridges and a fully healthy rotation, expectations are higher than ever.

That is in no small part thanks to Thibodeau. Jalen Brunson and the front office weren’t the only Knicks that developed with each season, as Thibodeau slowly but surely began quieting his biggest criticisms.

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