Tom Thibodeau, responsible for the resurrection of the New York Knicks who reached the play-offs after eight years of scarcity and half-mast performances, has been named best coach of the regular season, the NBA announced on Monday.
This is the second time that the 63-year-old coach has been so honored, having been so honored during the 2010-11 season with the Chicago Bulls, which was his first in this role in the North American basketball league. This is the first time that a technician has received this award twice, each time at the end of his first season in two different clubs.
Thibodeau was ahead of Monty Williams by a short margin (351 pts for Thibodeau against 340 pts Williams, editor’s note), who led the Phoenix Suns to second place in the Western Conference, qualifying his team for the play-offs it had narrowly missed last season. Quin Snyder, the Utah Jazz coach who finished with the best record in the championship, is third (161 pts).
Returning to New York, where he had been an assistant coach between 1996 and 2003, Thibodeau has revived a dying franchise by reconnecting it with a combative and defensive team identity that it had lost in recent years.
This resulted in a surprising 4th place in the Eastern Conference (41 wins, 31 losses), after a successful final sprint, as the Knicks have won 16 of their last 20 matches. Last season ended with a poor record (21-45).
The embodiment of the New York revival, winger Julius Randle was named the most progressed player of the season.
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