Now 67 years old, Tom Thibodeau has been a head coach each NBA season since 2010-11 other than 2015-16. He’s had his share of success at each stop he’s been at as well, whether it’s with the Chicago Bulls, Minnesota Timberwolves, or now the New York Knicks. Twice, he has been named Coach of the Year (2010-11 with Chicago, 2020-21 with New York). Thibodeau has coached an MVP (Derrick Rose), Defensive Player of the Year (Joakim Noah), and two Most Improved Player (Jimmy Butler and Julius Randle) winners. What Tom Thibodeau hasn’t done as a head coach yet is guide a team to the NBA Finals.
Tom Thibodeau Looking To Find Way Off ‘Best To Never’ List
Tom Thibodeau Has Best Winning Percentage For Head Coach That Never Reached NBA Finals
Thibodeau is currently in his 13th season as an NBA head coach. He helped guide the Knicks to a 51-31 record this year, good for third-best in the Eastern Conference. They will meet the sixth-seeded Detroit Pistons in the first round of the playoffs.
He has now coached just shy of 1,000 regular season games (998). Thibodeau owns a career record of 578-420 which is a win percentage of .579. That is the highest in NBA history for a head coach that has never reached the NBA Finals (minimum 250 games).
This is Thibodeau’s fourth time in five years reaching the postseason with the Knicks. In 2018, he was the head man for a Timberwolves team that made the playoffs for the first time in 14 years. His Bulls were playoff-bound in all five of his seasons in Chicago.
In 85 career postseason games as a head coach, Thibodeau has a record of 38-47. The only time he reached the conference finals was his first season (2010-11) where Chicago lost to the Miami Heat in five games. New York has reached the second round each of the previous two years.
Prior to becoming a head coach, Thibodeau was an assistant coach for 20 seasons with six different teams. He does have a championship ring as an assistant under Doc Rivers with the 2007-08 Boston Celtics.
The most games as a head coach by anyone with a better win percentage than Thibodeau without reaching the NBA Finals is Jerry West. The legendary player coached the Los Angeles Lakers for three seasons (246 games) finishing with a record of 145-101 (.589).
Knicks Not Expected To Go All The Way In The East
Thibodeau’s Knicks begin their 2025 postseason on Saturday. While they are somewhat heavy favorites to advance past the Pistons, few expect them to advance further than that. If they defeat Detroit, their likely second round opponent will be the reigning champion Celtics. It’s been talked about ad nauseam how the Knicks went 0-10 against the teams with the three-best records. They went 0-2 against the Oklahoma City Thunder, while going 0-4 against both the Cleveland Cavaliers and Celtics. A Boston/New York series would see the Knicks as heavy underdogs.
Not only can it be deemed as not likely that they reach the NBA Finals, their overall drought as a team is expected to be extended. The Knicks haven’t won a championship since 1973 and haven’t reached the NBA Finals since 1999.
