With the recent conclusion of the NBA’s Regular Season, the league released the top three candidates for a majority of the regular season accolades. As expected, there have been some significant snubs in just about every category. And much to New York Knicks guard, Josh Hart’s anger, his head coach, Tom Thibodeau was, unfortunately, one of them.
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Upon seeing the controversial decision, Josh Hart couldn’t help but air out his frustration on X (formerly “Twitter”), despite trolling the 66-year-old just a few days ago. The following is what he said on the matter.
“50 wins, 2nd seed with an injuried roster for half the season and not a Coach Of The Year candidate….”
The finalists that were chosen over the New York Knicks’ head coach, were the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Chris Finch, the Orlando Magic’s Jamahl Mosley, and the OKC Thunder’s Mark Daigneault.
Each of the three coaches has had magnificent campaigns. While Daigneault and Finch coached their teams to the #1 and #3 seed in the Western Conference, respectively, Mosley coached the Magic to their franchise’s best campaign in the last 13 years and finished 5th in the Eastern Conference.
However, while these coaches were downright brilliant during this past regular season, it is very difficult to argue with Josh Hart. Tom Thibodeau has to be the biggest snub for the honor. As Hart mentioned, the Knicks finished the regular season with 50 wins, despite being injury-riddled for large parts of the campaign. Despite the likes of Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson missing 36 and 51 games, respectively, the New York Knicks were able to remain steady, and eventually claim the 2nd seed in the East (per NBA.com).
While the likes of Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo, and Josh Hart certainly stepped up, Thibodeau also deserves credit for their success. So, it really is a shock to not see the NBA refuse to even feature him as a finalist for the prestigious award.
Do the other coaches deserve the honor more than Tom Thibodeau?
Each of the three individuals shortlisted for the Coach of the Year honor are coaches of teams that haven’t performed too well in recent history. However, each of the three teams has turned it around for them this season. As mentioned prior, the OKC and the Wolves are the 1st and 3rd seed in the West, separated by merely 1 game. Whereas, the Magic finished the season as the 5th seed, just 3 games behind the #2 spot.
Mark Daigneault took over the coaching responsibilities at the beginning of the 2020-2021 season. Since then, the Thunder have finished 14th, 14th, and 10th in the conference. This time around, the Thunder also finished with the most wins for the franchise in a single season over the past 10 years. From the previous campaign, the Oklahoma City side witnessed an improvement of 17 wins.
Chris Finch became the Wolves’ head coach midway into the 2020-2021 season and had an immediate impact on the franchise. After finishing 11th, 14th, and 13th in 2019, 2020, and 2021, Finch led the team to consecutive playoff appearances in 2022 and 2023. This season, despite Karl-Anthony Towns being injured for the latter part of the campaign, Finch still found a way to win 14 more games than last regular season, finish with the #3 seed, and have the franchise’s most successful campaign over the past two decades.
While Mosley’s case for the Coach of the Year honor is the weakest among the three, it is worth noting that the 45-year-old has done a phenomenal job. Despite having one of the youngest squads in the league and merely 1 All-Star, Mosley helped the Magic finish 1st in the Southeast Division and 5th in the conference.
Realistically, Tom Thibodeau could’ve been one of the shortlisted candidates by replacing Jamahl Mosley. However, one of the two Western Conference coaches – Daigneault or Finch – will be the winner in all probabilities.
