Tom Thibodeau is back out there for the love of the game.
The former New York Knicks head coach Thibodeau was spotted this week working with a new NBA team — the Phoenix Suns. Thibodeau was present at Suns practice on Saturday chatting with Phoenix forward Oso Ighodoro.
Thibs is here again. Chatting it up with Oso. pic.twitter.com/z4sqRHH31Z
— Kellan Olson (@KellanOlson) September 27, 2025
On Friday, Thibodeau was also seen in attendance at Suns team practice.
Former Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau attended Suns practice today. Alabama Nate Oats also was there. pic.twitter.com/71XaQvxLhJ
— Doug Haller (@DougHaller) September 27, 2025
The Suns are now being led by first-year NBA head coach Jordan Ott. While Thibodeau doesn’t have any known connections to players or staffers in Phoenix, it appears that the team has tabbed him to help provide some insights to their rookie coach Ott (who took over in June for the fired Mike Budenholzer).
Thibodeau, now 67, was himself fired by the New York Knicks in June after five seasons in charge (being replaced by Mike Brown). Though Thibodeau won a Coach of the Year Award with the Knicks in 2021 and just led the team to their first Eastern Conference Finals berth in a quarter-century, that was still not enough for him to keep his job in New York.
It is unclear if Thibodeau intends to coach in any capacity during the 2025-26 season or if he plans to use it as a gap year. But Thibodeau was graceful even after his firing by the Knicks, and he shouldn’t have any trouble finding a new NBA coaching job of some sort if he so desires.
