Thibodeau was laid off, will Tyron Lu be the next one? The NBA coaching structure is accelerating

On June 4, the Knicks fired coach Thibodeau, which also indicates that the veteran coach will gradually withdraw from the league stage. The next one may be Clippers head coach Tyron Lue, who is not optimistic at the moment.

Just signed $30 million for three years last year. He led the Knicks to achieve remarkable results this season, advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 25 years, reached the playoffs four times in the past five years, and led the team to achieve 50+ wins in a single season in the first time since the 1990s. He was elected the best coach in 2021, but in the NBA, an arena with the ultimate goal of winning the championship, these achievements still do not seem to be enough to keep him in the coach position. In the end, he could not escape the fate of being cut because he failed to lead the team to win the championship.

Looking back, the fierce competition in coaching positions can be seen. Among the past 10 coaches of the year, 7 have left the post in disgrace, only Cole, Dagent and Atkin have not been fired yet; since 2020, 24 teams have replaced head coaches, and only 6 teams have not changed their head coach positions. These 6 teams are: Heat (Spoelstra), Warriors (Steve Cole), Clippers (Terron Lu), Thunder (Degnot), Timberwolves (Finch), and Bulls (Donovan). This series of data all highlights the fierce competition in coach positions.

Among the veteran coaches in the league, the Clippers head coach Tyron Lu's position as the most dangerous. He has been coaching for many years in the Clippers, but he has never been able to lead the team into a Western Conference Final. If the team's performance still does not improve next season, he is likely to become the next veteran coach to be eliminated by the league. There are profound practical reasons behind the fierce competition in the league coaching position. With the rapid development of modern basketball today, various teams have increasingly strict requirements on coaches. Results are an important indicator to measure coaching ability, and winning the championship is the core goal pursued by the team and coaches. Once this goal is not achieved, the coach may face a crisis of being dismissed. Moreover, with the continuous evolution of basketball tactics and styles, many teams tend to find young and middle-aged coaches who can adapt to modern basketball offensive and defensive styles. Because the old coach may have some shortcomings or be too focused on traditional tactics, he gradually lost his advantage in the league, and the risk of being eliminated also increases. For example, the Suns are currently actively choosing potential coaches for young and middle-aged people and giving up the older generation of coaches. In addition, the Rockets, Thunder, Lakers, Spurs, Celtics and other teams have also launched a new generation of coaches to adapt to the development trend of the league. After the Knicks fired Thibodeau, they will focus on the championship as the team's next step, and finding a coach who can help the team compete for the championship has become the top priority. However, there are currently no particularly outstanding coach candidates in the league. The trend of old coaches being gradually eliminated has caused the team to face many challenges in the process of coach selection. The only goal at present is former Nuggets head coach Malone, but because he has many similarities to Thibodeau, it is unlikely to be selected by the Knicks.