The New York Knicks fired head coach Tom Thibodeau after losing in the Eastern Conference Finals, which means he is free to visit other teams.
Even if that means spilling some of their secrets.
“Obviously, they eliminated us last year, so him being able to give us some of the thoughts that he saw in that series, some of the stuff that they broke down in our personnel or even our team helps us grow and learn from that,” Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown told reporters Monday after Thibodeau attended the team’s practice.
New York eliminated the Celtics in the second round of the playoffs in six games.
Jayson Tatum suffered an Achilles injury during the series, but the Knicks were the better team even before his setback. The Celtics failed to reach the 100-point mark in two of their losses as Thibodeau’s Knicks swarmed their outside shots and cut off their driving lanes.
Thibodeau is known as a detail-oriented head coach who breaks down film and studies opponents, so he surely discovered some weaknesses in the Celtics approach during that series. And letting Boston know what those weaknesses were will only help the Eastern Conference team correct them moving forward.
The former head coach was an assistant on Boston’s staff for three seasons from 2007-10 during a stretch that included two NBA Finals appearances and a championship, so he is familiar with the organization.
And now he is helping it once again in a different way.
