Knicks finalizing deal for Thibodeau to coach
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Former New York Knicks assistant Tom Thibodeau is finalizing a deal to return to the club as head coach, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Saturday. The deal reportedly will run five years.
Thibodeau, who previously was the head coach of the Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves, had been considered the frontrunner for the job and had a formal interview in early July.
Thibodeau's decades-long relationship with Knicks president Leon Rose made him an early favorite, despite the team's intention to interview at least 11 candidates. Thibodeau was represented by Creative Artist Agency when Rose and newly hired executive vice president William Wesley ran the agency's basketball department.
Rose was expected to make a decision by the end of the month, per the New York Post.
Other candidates to replace David Fizdale, who was fired in December, were Jason Kidd, Kenny Atkinson, Mike Woodson, Mike Brown, Ime Udoka, Will Hardy, Pat Delaney, Jamahl Mosley, Chris Fleming and Knicks interim coach Mike Miller.
The 62-year-old Thibodeau has a 352-246 career record over eight seasons with the Bulls and T-Wolves, including a 24-32 postseason mark.
The Knicks were 21-45 when the season was halted on March 11 due to the coronavirus. Out of contention for the playoffs, they are not taking part in the NBA's upcoming restart.
The team's most recent playoff appearance came in the 2012/13 season, when they lost in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Knicks were 54-28 that season but have not finished with a mark above .500 since.
Microsoft, NBA team up to put virtual fans in arenas
Meanwhile, when the National Basketball Association restarts its coronavirus-interrupted season on July 30 in its “bubble” in Orlando, Florida, the stands could have more than 300 fans – none of whom will actually be in the arena.
Microsoft Corp and the NBA said they have joined forces to put “virtual” fans in the stands of each game using Microsoft's Teams app and giant screens.
The two will equip each game court with 17-foot-tall (5.2 m) LED screens that wrap three sides of the arena. The virtual stands will be filled with fans who use the Teams app to log in and sit alongside each other using a new feature of the app called “Together mode” meant to simulate a group of people sitting in a room.
The NBA suspended its season in March after a player for the Utah Jazz tested positive for coronavirus. The league plans to restart the season in a so-called bubble at Walt Disney World Resort where players, staff and media will be tested and quarantined in an effort to keep everyone inside safe.
NBA officials also said on Friday they were revamping their approach to televising the games, with cameras positioned closer to the players to emulate the vantage point of fans sitting in seats near the court. But for player-safety reasons, “the majority of our cameras near the court will be robotic for the first time,” Sara Zuckert, head of next-generation telecasts at the NBA, told a news conference on Friday.
NBA officials said audio from the virtual fans will be played in the arena and televised. Virtual seats will be limited to 320 fans, a number based on the size of the venue and screens. Fans will be selected by the home teams, with each team to decide how to handle the selections.