Tom Thibodeau To Replace Fired Derek Fisher As Knicks Head Coach?

Derek Fisher is out as New York Knicks head coach. Could a former Knicks assistant and successful head coach for the Chicago Bulls, in Tom Thibodeau, be called on to replace him?

As reported by ESPN’s Ian O’Connor, via his Twitter account, Tom Thibodeau would “crawl” to the Garden to become the next New York Knicks head coach.

Source close to Tom Thibodeau: “The #Knicks are the job he’s always wanted. He would crawl to Madison Square Garden.”

— Ian O’Connor (@Ian_OConnor) February 8, 2016

O’Connor also pointed out that not only does Thibodeau have a positive history with Carmelo Anthony because of his ties to USA Basketball, but Tom had been aggressive in trying to recruit him when he was the coach of the Bulls and Anthony was a free agent.

Tom Thibodeau is a big, big fan of Carmelo Anthony’s. Thought he had him in free agency. Loved him w/ USA Basketball. #Knicks

— Ian O’Connor (@Ian_OConnor) February 8, 2016

Tom Thibodeau told me once about USA coaches: “We laugh sometimes about what some people say about Melo. The guy’s a killer.”

— Ian O’Connor (@Ian_OConnor) February 8, 2016

The only monkey wrench in the Tom Thibodeau to the Knicks NBA rumor is that Tom is a disciple of the Jeff Van Gundy coaching tree. Van Gundy and Phil Jackson have had a longstanding rivalry since their days as head coaches themselves.

Another possibility to replace Derek Fisher as the new head coach of the Knicks are Luke Walton and Brian Shaw, two Phil Jackson disciples. Kurt Rambis, named interim coach, is not considered a top candidate to keep the job after the season is over.

Kurt Rambis is Knicks interim coach but league sources believe Brian Shaw and Luke Walton are top long-term replacement candidates

— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) February 8, 2016

ESPN’s Ian Begley and Ramona Shelburne first reported that Derek Fisher was fired as head coach of the New York Knicks, citing internal discussions that “Fisher was not transitioning from the role of player to coach effectively.”

The Knicks were 23-31 this season after going 17-65 in Fisher’s first season. They’ve also lost 9 out of their last 10, including an embarrassing defeat to the lowly Denver Nuggets on Super Bowl Sunday. As reported by the New York Daily News, signs that Fisher was likely to be fired could be read in his postgame news conference, where the head coach said he wasn’t “surprised” by New York’s overall lack of readiness, though he did take on some of the blame as well.

“I’m not necessarily surprised,” Fisher said. “Unfortunately, it is disappointing. There are always reasons why. The reality is that we have chances to win these games but we are not winning them. …We have never been truly consistent. It seems like the issues have bounced around some but the reality is until something changes, it won’t change.”

Fisher was also involved in the embarrassing incident earlier this year with NBA player Matt Barnes. As reported by the New York Post, Matt Barnes of the Memphis Grizzlies drove 95 miles back in October to confront Derek Fisher for allegedly dating his ex-wife, Real Housewives Of LA star Gloria Govan.

Sources said that the incident centered around Barnes’ 6-year-old twin sons, Carter and Isaiah, who called Matt to tell him that Fisher was at the house.

“Barnes went crazy. He got in his car and went to the house and went after Fisher,” one source said. “Matt then drove down there to beat the s**t out of him.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BBiIMChLzdA/?taken-by=matt_barnes9

Barnes may actually have gotten the last laugh, however, as news of the Derek Fisher firing has made its rounds on social media. According to SI.com, Matt even posted a shot of himself, looking awful smug, to Instagram following the news that Fisher was out as Knicks head coach.

[Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images]