We’ve uncovered an NBA conspiracy, and Gilbert Arenas has cracked the case. The New York Knicks, who recently fired Tom Thibodeau despite having their best season in 25 years, aren’t really conducting a search to fill Thibs’ shoes. Arenas has figured out that it’s all a dog and pony show to obscure the real endgame: hiring Jalen Brunson’s dad, Rick, as the new head coach.
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Arenas put on his tinfoil hat – one he rarely takes off – on a recent episode of Gil’s Arena and shared his theory that all of the recently rebuffed attempts by the Knicks to speak to other teams’ head coaches is just a ruse, because they know that they don’t have a chance to hire them. That list includes Jason Kidd, Ime Udoka, Chris Finch, Quin Snyder and Billy Donovan.
Have a listen to his theory.
Gilbert Arenas suggested that the New York Knicks are intentionally offering coaching positions to NBA coaches who are already employed elsewhere, knowing they’ll likely decline, as a strategy to justify appointing Rick Brunson, Jalen Brunson’s father, to the role. pic.twitter.com/0YOpE3fDNS
— joebuddenclips/fanpage (@Chatnigga101) June 13, 2025
“You offer the job to people that already got jobs, knowing what their answer is, so you’re pretending for the world that you’re actually looking for a job, and then you’re gonna ‘settle’ for Rick,” Arenas said. “Just go ahead and give Rick the job, man. I don’t think nobody’s gonna mind.”
Given how passionate fans were about the Knicks’ run to the Eastern Conference Finals, I think people are definitely going to mind, and if this happens, it’s going to blow up in the Knicks’ faces and make them look even worse than they already do for firing Thibs without a coherent plan in place to find his successor.
Rick played nine seasons in the NBA, mostly as an end-of-the-bench reserve, and he’s been on Thibodeau’s staff on three separate occasions — in Minnesota, Chicago and New York. He’s never been a head coach above the high school level, and there’s the tiny, no-big-deal matter of him being the father of the team’s best player.
According to reports, the elder Brunson is not well-liked by the players, so unless the Knicks are planning an entire roster overhaul, this move stands no chance of working out.
Arenas loves to throw things at the wall to see what sticks, and he betrayed his own lack of knowledge on the situation when he couldn’t name any of the five active head coaches the Knicks had contacted, and instead named Darvin Ham after his cohosts gave him the actual names.
There are a few problems with this, the most obvious being that Darvin Ham hasn’t been an active head coach since the Lakers fired him last year. What’s even worse is that the Ham thing originated with the infamous parody account NBA Centel, which posted that the Bucks had given the Knicks permission to speak with Ham, but the Knicks declined.
Arenas’ lack of media literacy would be shocking for someone with such a large platform, or at least it would be if it didn’t happen all the time. Cohost Josiah Johnson once again corrected him by saying, “They have not asked Darvin Ham, that was just a meme.”
There are still quality candidates out there for the Knicks to consider. Michael Malone and Taylor Jenkins were both let go towards the end of the season, but they both have proven track records, and Malone even won a ring just two years ago. Mike Brown is another solid option with a history of success after managing to bring the Sacramento Kings to the playoffs.
If the Knicks opt for someone without head coaching experience, Celtics assistant Sam Cassell and Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori were tied for best assistant coach in the league in last year’s NBA general manager survey. Not far below them was Jeff Van Gundy of the Clippers, who had a successful run as Knicks head coach from 1996-2001.
Whichever way the Knicks end up going, it seems pretty obvious that Arenas’ theory doesn’t come to pass.
