CHARLESTON, S.C. — It's a job, look. It was always about work, and it was always about work. When Tom Thibodeau's longtime friend handed him a photo of Shibs on the beach last year, everyone laughed at it, including Knicks chief agitator Josh Hart.
But it was not the kind of laughter that often accompanies the unfortunate assault on a scrapbook bound in an attic, or the uncombed hair, the unwrinkled face, or the innocent smile of a young man.
“It’s really hard to think about that guy being on the beach,” Hart said last year, smiling broadly during a quiet moment.
Years ago, Jeff Van Gundy once said of his appearance: ”
If Van Gundy is the Christie Brinkley of that particular fetish, Thibodeau is the Kathy Ireland. Some people spend a lot of time at work, regardless of their occupation. They are the dark circles under a lawyer's eyes, the blisters on a landscaper's hands, and the yellowed face of a surgical trainee who has just finished his second shift.
And on days when it's not fully invading your throat, there's a constant rattle lurking just outside the coach's voice box. Just like singers, coaches can hear each other.
“This is his life,” Jalen Brunson said.
Starting Tuesday morning, the brightly lit walls of the court inside the Col. David S. McAllister Center also became the communal home for every player on the Knicks' roster. Those gathered expect this chapter to last about a month longer than the last. And they know there are few secrets about how it starts.
“He builds a fire every day,” Branson said. “He wants us to be better and he's going to push us. He just wants to win.”
Thibodeau's critics say he sometimes pushes too hard and wants to win too much — sometimes directly, sometimes subtly. It's an interesting dynamic. At a time when it's hard to find a more unwelcome word in the sports lexicon than “load management,” a bizarre Thibs backlash occurs when a team resting a player generates more outrage than even social media can handle. .
In fact, he came under fire in some circles last year for having the audacity to continue pushing his team towards 50 wins and a top seed. When his players started getting beaten hard in the playoffs, instead of brushing aside the usual suspects — human fickle nature, long seasons, playoff intensity — a few fingers were pointed at Thibodeau. Ta.
look? He pushes them too hard!
And, of course, there's the always reliable annual poll of players granted anonymity that calculates Thibodeau's approval rating to be about the same as the tax collector's approval rating.
“There was an element of fear,” Mikal Bridges said with a big smile for everyone to know. At least in his case there was no element of fear. “When I'm around Thisbus, he always scolds me. But I know how serious he is. I can mess with him off the court too. I don't like that intensity. I love him. He's not as bad as people think.”
This is as good as ever, as Karl-Anthony Towns, the only person not on the court Tuesday, has a past relationship with Thibodeau that doesn't conjure up any images of Belushi and Aykroyd or Pitt and Clooney. It's still important.
Thibodeau was KAT's second coach at Minnesota. Tibbs was old school. That often doesn't work with young players. KAT was unhappy that Thibodeau held Jimmy Butler to one standard and the rest of the team to another, which led to Butler's ugly exit from Minneapolis and Thibodeau's shortly thereafter. This reportedly led to the leak.
If both men were allowed to talk about it, I'm sure both would. However, both are currently at different stages of their careers. This will almost certainly be Thibodeau's last job in the NBA, with him newly re-promoted and now established in a way he never was in Minnesota despite previous success in Chicago. I am doing it. And, frankly, KAT was just taken off a team last year that many thought could contend for a title. It's in his power to recreate that feeling with the Knicks.
They need each other now more than ever. And one of the things you often hear about KAT is that despite all his other quirks, he was never shy about his work. There's no reason not to think your second marriage will be better. Mostly because you have to.
“The important thing is to understand the work that goes into it,” Thibodeau said. “If you look too far into it and look past it, you're not going to get there. If the team is committed to working on it, good things will come from it.”
Outside the gymnasium, the Citadel's corps of cadets walk from class to class, many walking in double beats and saluting when appropriate. That should make the Knicks coach smile. None of them will be able to enjoy a day at the beach anytime soon.
