The New York Knicks have many things to be excited about the 2024-25 season. They’re currently the third-best team in the Eastern Conference, boasting a deep squad that can contend with any squad in the NBA.
Aside from the superstars on their roster, they also have one of the most outstanding tacticians in the modern NBA. Tom Thibodeau has been leading the Knicks through multiple postseason runs and is counted on to lead the team to a potential Finals appearance.
While teams like the Celtics and Cavaliers are more favored to win the title, the New York faithful trust their head coach to finally lead them to a title they haven’t seen in half a century.
Thibs’ most recent achievement also adds to the prestige and pressure that comes with coaching the most popular team in the Big Apple.
Tom Thibodeau takes over Pat Riley in New York Knicks coaching wins
Posting & Toasting’s Antonio Losada wrote about the team’s 121-105 victory over the Atlanta Hawks, which gives the tactician his 224th win as head coach. He takes over Pat Riley to fourth among all-time Knicks coaches with such a record.
Riley is a beloved tactician in the Big Apple who led the Knickerbockers to multiple deep playoff runs in the 90s, highlighted by a 1994 Finals appearance where they lost to Hakeem Olajuwon and the Houston Rockets.
While Thibs is happy to make such a progress in his career, he was also humble in the milestone he’s achieved:
“All the individual stuff, it’s a byproduct of the team working together,” Thibs said. “I’ve had a great team. I’ve got great players. It’s a great organization, so you share in all that stuff as a group.
“As far as Pat Riley, he’s unbelievable, probably the best to ever do it. I was fortunate to be with Jeff, and Jeff I put up there with anybody.”
Thibodeau is also the first coach since Jeff van Gundy to coach the Knicks for five seasons. Mike D’Antoni almost made the mark, but a poor 18-24 run saw him get axed for Mike Woodson in 2011-12.
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