Knicks should find their own head coach instead of trying to steal one
Knicks should find their own head coach instead of trying to steal one
When the Knicks fired Tom Thibodeau last week, I assumed that they'd find a replacement fairly quickly. Considering how quickly the team fired him after New York was booted out of the playoffs by the Pacers, I thought they'd already had a replacement for him in mind. You usually don't see a team move that quickly without a plan B already set in motion.
IT AIN'T THIBS FAULT: Tom Thibodeau didn't cost the Knicks a ring, but it was time to move on.
Here we are a week later, and the Knicks still don't have a head coach. But that's probably because New York keeps trying to steal everyone else's.
Every name we've heard attached to the Knicks' coaching job so far has been a name who is currently coaching another team. The top three names we've heard are Chris Finch with the Timberwolves, Ime Udoka with the Rockets and Jason Kidd with the Mavericks. The Knicks' overtures for Finch and Udoka were rejected by both the Timberwolves and Rockets, respectively, on Tuesday, according to ESPN's Shams Charania. Then, on Wednesday morning, the Mavericks promptly rejected the Knicks, too.
Honestly, we shouldn't have expected anything less. The Knicks have approached this coaching search like a single person going to a bar full of married couples. Leon Rose thought he could be Mr. Steal Your Coach, but that never made any sense.
Why would these teams give up their head coaches for New York? This isn't a Doc Rivers situation from 2013, where his Boston Celtics had clearly reached the end of the line and everyone was ready to move on. The Timberwolves were just in the Western Conference Finals, for crying out loud. The Rockets were the No. 2 seed in the West and they've barely just gotten started. And the Mavericks got a get-out-of-jail-free card! They're not messing this up.
Getting rejected is never fun, obviously, so the Knicks front office probably doesn't feel great right now. But here's a tip: Have they tried going after a coach who doesn't have a job right now? There are plenty of them! We named seven of them right here. If we can name seven, the Knicks can surely do at least that.
The most wholesome moment in baseball
Red Sox slugger Roman Anthony was called up to the big leagues from Triple-A Worcester immediately after hitting a 497-foot grand slam. The dude was going to make his debut at some point this year, but the moment there was obvious.
Anthony notched his first career MLB hit on Tuesday, lining one deep into left field. He drove in two runs for the Sox and looked every bit like the blue-chip prospect everyone expects him to be. But that's not the part of the moment that will stick with me.
I'm just so captured by how adorable his family is cheering him on after the hit.
He's really had the whole squad in the stadium. This is how you support your baby boy in his biggest moment.
I love everything about this. Shoutout to the Anthonys. Keep showing up.
In defense of Angel Reese
The Chicago Sky aren't good right now. This team legitimately looks like one of the worst in the WNBA after its 85-66 loss to the Liberty. Courtney Vandersloot is injured and the team is short on ball-handling. The spacing looks terrible. This team just isn't where it needs to be.
As the face of it all, Angel Reese catches a lot of flack for that. Some of the criticism around her is fair. A lot of it is unfair, too. Some of it even goes beyond simple criticism and just gets plain nasty. Given the spotlight that's been on her for the last few years, that's nothing new. But her teammates are tired of it.
Our Meg Hall wrote about how Ariel Atkins swiftly came to Reese's defense after the loss on Tuesday. Here's what Atkins had to say:
"This is a 23-year-old kid, and the amount of crap that she gets on a day-to-day [basis], and she still shows up. This is a 23-year-old kid who handles herself with grace," she said. "Her crown is heavy. So, whatever else y'all wanna come at her for the way that she acts ― she has to build the wall. She has to have the wall because if she doesn't, people will break her down. Not only just because of the way she looks, but it's because of the way she carries herself ... She knows who she is, and we ain't gone break her down for that ... The kid's crown is heavy. Like, respect that."
Atkins is absolutely right. Has Reese been perfect? No. None of us are. But, considering everything on her plate, she's handled things in Chicago far better than most of us would. For her to constantly be bothered for things that have nothing to do with basketball is beyond irritating at this point. Good on Atkins for sticking up for her here.
I'm begging for us to talk about Reese in basketball terms. Can we stick to the game, please? There's plenty to talk about there. The rest of this stuff can go, man. It's useless.
Quick hits: All love to Coco Gauff ... Scottie Scheffler dumps Venmo ... and more
— Coco Gauff was treated like a champion at the Liberty game. Good on her. Meg Hall has more.
— Scottie Scheffler had the most hilarious reason for closing his Venmo account. Prince Grimes has details.
— Here's Andrew Joseph on some major rule changes coming to men's college basketball.
— Myles Garrett says he's adding Aaron Rodgers to his graveyard. Christian D'Andrea has more.
— Here's Bryan Kalbrosky with the latest NBA rumor roundup. Is Giannis staying or going?
— It's minicamp holdout season in the NFL! Here's Christian with more.
That's a wrap, folks. Thanks for reading. Peace.
-Sykes ✌️
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