The New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau recently made an appearance on the Roommates Show. The podcast is hosted by his players Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart, so the 66-year-old likely expected some light banter. However, what he likely didn’t expect was to be the subject of an unrelenting barrage of roasts after he compared his game to that of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.
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During the “Fan Questions” segment of the show, Thibodeau was asked, “In your playing days, if you could have a Korver/Redick skillset [shooting], or a Rodman/Hart skillset [rebounding and hustle], which would you have?”
Hart predicted that his coach would go for the Korver/Redick skillset. However, the 66-year-old had a rather interesting and somewhat braggadocios answer for that, much to everyone’s surprise.
“I already told you, I’m a cross between Russell [Westbrook], Kobe and Michael. A guard like Russell, a scorer like Kobe, and a killer like Michael.” Coach Thibodeau didn’t think that he would have to regret giving this answer in front of his own players. But, oh boy, was he wrong.
Brunson and Hart immediately picked his statement apart. Hart said, “You don’t score. You didn’t have any points in that news clipping, you just had 22 rebounds. So, you’re Rodman.”
The head coach attempted to take his claim a little further by saying that they could ask Brunson’s father if he could score or not. However, Brunson was ready with a response too.
He hilariously said, “You don’t have to ask, because you confirm this with me, Josh. Have you seen Thibs shoot a jump shot in practice?”
This came after he said that coaches often practice their jump shots during practice when the ball goes their way, but he has never seen coach Thibodeau try to do that.
Considering how ridiculous the players believe Thibs’ take about his game was, it is a bit difficult to believe his grand claims. That said, to his credit, the coach really was brilliant at getting rebounds back in his heyday.
Jalen Brunson pulls out Tom Thibodeau’s rebound record
Josh Hart was on a mission during this postseason, with the 6’4 guard even averaging almost 12 rebounds per game. Calling this impressive would be an understatement.
However, while celebrating his teammate’s prowess, Brunson found a newspaper from the 70s where his coach had received a rather interesting special mention. This immediately prompted JB to compare Hart to the head coach of the New York Knicks.
The newspaper article mentioned that the then-New Britain High School guard Tom Thibodeau had a whopping 22 rebounds in a game that helped his team get an 88-77 win over Hartford Public School.
So, even though coach Thibodeau might have exaggerated his game by saying it was a mix of Russell Westbrook, Kobe Bryant, and Michael, Jordan, he certainly seemed to have shades of Dennis Rodman. Still, now that he has done something so obtuse as to compare himself to MJ and the like, it’s unlikely his players will resist laughing fits anytime he talks about his game.
