Despite leading the most successful season for the franchise in 25 years, the Knicks chose to fire head coach Tom Thibodeau on Tuesday afternoon. And sure enough, the first name to be rumored for the fresh job opening was former Nuggets’ head man, Michael Malone.
Malone had the greatest coaching run in franchise history, becoming the Nuggets’ all-time winningest coach this season and leading them to their only title in 2023. But, just two years later, things grew toxic between Malone and GM Calvin Booth, and both were stunningly fired in the final week of the regular season.
Malone hasn’t announced any plans yet, but he wasn’t out of the spotlight for long as he joined ESPN as an analyst to cover the Western Conference Finals. It doesn’t seem like Malone is in a hurry to leave the NBA, and with his resume, he should be a top contender for any job he wants.
Knicks job could be perfect for Malone
So, naturally, as soon as Thibs was fired, speculation began about Malone, a New York native, returning home to coach the Knicks. By getting rid of the coach who just led the best season of the millennium, Knicks’ brass are indicating that it’s championship or bust.
New York feels that they got as far as they could with Thibs, and now they need a proven winner who can get them over the hump. That certainly sounds like Michael Malone. The steady veteran Malone has the requisite experience and poise for the position and should be able to draw on past experiences to handle the rigors of all that would come with this job.
The fit makes perfect sense, and it’s no surprise that this move was linked almost immediately. We’ll see if an offer is made, or if Malone is even interested, but at least on the surface, it seems like a match made in heaven.
Malone and Thibs ironically share similar flaws
The funny part of this whole rumor is that all of the reasons Thibs just got fired are very similar to all of the reasons that Malone got fired by the Nuggets. They are too old-school, stubborn, blunt coaches who don’t like to adjust.
Malone loved his vets, hated playing young players, and refused to trust his bench. He ran his starters into the ground in back-to-back years without making any major shifts in strategy, scheme, or rotations, seemingly willing to go down with the ship, rather than change his ways.
That sounds exactly like Thibs, who was fired for being stuck in his ways and failing to add creativity to the team’s offense or trust any bench players. On paper, Malone may seem like the perfect, title-winning coach the Knicks need, but in reality, he may be a lot closer to Tom Thibodeau than anyone realizes.