Kevin Garnett Mocks New York Knicks’ Tom Thibodeau Replacement Efforts With Mutombo Gif

Kevin Garnett seemingly bats for his former coach Tom Thibodeau after the Knicks' attempts to replace him are stalled.

Kevin Garnett Mocks New York Knicks’ Tom Thibodeau Replacement Efforts With Mutombo Gif

Kevin Garnett (FS Image)

It is no secret that the New York Knicks are on the hunt for a head coach. Firing Tom Thibodeau after he led them to their best outcome in 25 seasons was certainly a groundbreaking decision. It also exposed their front office to unforeseen amounts of ridicule after having their most successful season in years. The subsequent efforts by the front office to replace Thibodeau with highly touted candidates are also failing.

Wednesday held some bad news for Leon Rose and co. The Knicks have been reported to have failed in their pursuits of five current head coaches. Jason Kidd, Ime Udoka, Billy Donovan, Chris Finch and Quin Snyder are all off limits for them. Despite their enviable marketing and a roster that has several playoff performers, it seems that the best head coaches in the NBA are currently satisfied with the roles they have.

This is slightly concerning both for the front office and for Knicks fans. If a team is unable to get top coaching talent despite having a contending roster and a star player, there is a possibility that the position is being viewed as a radioactive one. The Knicks did themselves no favors with how they described Thibs’ exit as a sign that they would want a head coach to come in and win a championship.

Kevin Garnett sat up and took note of this series of events last night. A few hours ahead of tipoff for Game 3, The Big Ticket posted a gif of Dikembe Mutombo’s famous finger wag.

Everytime the Knicks asks for permission to interview…this is crazy

Who could replace Tom Thibodeau as the Knicks’ next head coach?

Despite the bad news that the Knicks have received thus far in their head coaching pursuit, all is not lost. There are quite a few high-profile names out of an NBA head coaching job that are capable of taking up the mantle.

One of those is former Denver Nuggets and Sacramento Kings head coach Michael Malone. The Lakers’ arch rival in the past few years had a great record with coaching the Nuggets, up until his April firing. He is currently sitting on the sidelines and likely waiting for the right opportunity to make a comeback. Malone had a great equation with Nikola Jokic and has his blueprint all over the Nuggets’ current style.

The next best candidate in contention would be Taylor Jenkins. He was successful in coaching the Grizzlies back into the playoffs after the Marc Gasol years. He devised an egalitarian, everybody-eats offense in Tennessee that brought the best out of his role players in the absence of Ja Morant in 23-24. Jenkins would likely be a better offensive guru for Jalen Brunson to work with than Tom Thibodeau was.

Another possible head coaching choice for the Knicks would be former Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer. Apart from Budenholzer, the Knicks could also bring Frank Vogel into play. Like Thibs, Vogel is also a defense-first head coach. However, he has a more lassez faire attitude to young players and gives more room to prospects to develop, unlike Thibodeau, who preferred to play short rotations through the entire regular season campaign as well as the playoffs.

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