The hiring of Tom Thibodeau as manager by the Knicks has been widely praised as a smart move.
But no single coach, player or executive alone will be enough to overturn the struggling franchise, according to Kenny Smith.
“I know [Thibodeau] was a great coach in his day, but I’ve seen great coaches go there and lose,” Smith said Friday in a Zoom call with fellow TNT analyst Caron Butler. “I’ve seen great executives go there and lose. I’ve seen great players go there and lose. So it’s a collection that needs to be addressed. And when you walk in, you see it.
“It’s kind of like a new dress, man. When you see it on the shelf, you say “This is my dress”. You just know what it looks like. You almost have to try it. I haven’t seen it at this point. So I’ll be interested to see what they look like when they come out – if they go into the secondary bubble, if they have one, or when they come out next year”.