Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Active NBA Player Pitched by Expert as Possible Knicks Coach After Tom Thibodeau Firing

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Kevin Borba | Last updated Jun 4, 2025 3:46 PM ET

The New York Knicks are officially in the market for a new head coach despite winning 50 games in back-to-back seasons in over two decades.

On Tuesday, it was reported by ESPN's Shams Charania that the team would be moving on from head coach Tom Thibodeau after five seasons at the helm. The move was a bit shocking to some, considering Thibodeau led the Knicks to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since Bill Clinton was in office (2000).

A slew of names have been thrown out as replacements, as the Knicks are expected to look for a veteran coach with a championship pedigree to get them over the hump.

According to Fox Sports, former Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone, who was fired right before the playoffs due to what was a strained relationship between him and former general manager Calvin Booth.

However, CBS Sports' NBA writer Sam Quinn pitched an interesting idea of a current player calling it a career, and taking over as the head coach.

In a post that has amassed nearly 300,000 views, Quinn flirted with the idea of 12-time NBA All-Star and nine-time All-NBA selection, Chris Paul, retiring from playing and getting into coaching.

"I'm gonna throw out a wildcard name for the Knicks job: Chris Paul," suggested Quinn. "I doubt he'd take it. It seems like he wants to keep playing. But if he wants to coach, he's the clear candidate to make the next Kidd/Redick jump straight to a top job. Obviously Leon Rose knows him quite well."

Paul spent this past season with the San Antonio Spurs, and despite being 40 years old, played in all 82 games for the first time since the 2014-15 season. Despite the total games played, it's clear he is far from the player he once was.

He averaged a career low in points per game (8.8), rebounds per game (3.6) and also saw his assists per game (7.4) take somewhat of a hit as well. With the team making a move for De'Aaron Fox at the trade deadline, and Paul set to become a free agent, this could be the perfect time to throw his hat in the ring. He is widely viewed as one of the smartest players in NBA history.

It's a bit unorthodox, but so is firing the coach that just led you to your best season in nearly 30 years.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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