With each passing day, the long speculative pairing of Tom Thibodeau and Carmelo Anthony seems to pick up a bit more steam, though details of the actual pairing often seem as fluid as the rumors themselves.
The latest would-be version of it all have the Chicago Bulls coach and New York Knicks forward joining forces — but in L.A. as a teammate of Kobe Bryant.
At Bryant’s behest, the Chicago Tribune reports the Lakers are soon expected to ask the Bulls for permission to speak with Thibodeau about replacing the locker room despised Mike D’Antoni as leader of what now rates in the minds of a growing faction as L.A.’s other hoops team.
Though Thibodeau has three-years remaining on his contract, his struggles with management over staff and other personnel decisions are just as well documented. Still, some openly wonder why the Bulls would even let foster the idea that the organization would be open to allowing one of the league’s best coach’s to even talk about taking on the same duties with another franchise over what should be largely viewed as petty matters.
“I would like to know would Bulls management like him to pursue other opportunities?” veteran NBA coach and current ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy recently opined.” You haven’t heard a lot of overwhelming supportive statements.”
In reading between the lines, what everyone is able to decipher is that at this point in his career the 29-year-old, free-agent-to-be Anthony is greatly intrigued by the idea of playing for someone as detailed and hard-nosed as Thibodeau.
After 11 seasons and nearly 20,000 career points, the seven-time all-star realizes he doesn’t really have much to show for it all. In measuring his words, he seems to think playing for someone like Thibodeau might be a first step toward changing all that.
Now, it could be just a question of location.
