Tom Thibodeau and Karl-Anthony Towns have had bad blood between them for four long years now. This doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone, since the then 23-year-old was all claws and spit against the older coach. It was also the year of the infamous Jimmy Butler situation, that no one will forget.

Butler was pissed that none of his teammates even remotely cared about winning. Fast forward to now, Towns has grown into a mature man and Thibodeau got a place at the New York Knicks. But is that all?

Karl-Anthony Towns reminisces about his coach-hating days

KAT’s initial problem with his coach was that he only focused on shaping the player, and not a human being. But that’s all in the past. Stefan Bondy of the New York Post tweeted that the two of them have “squashed” their beef. “Two men grown men got together and had a conversation.”

Although developing player skills is important if you turn out to be a person without character, nothing else will matter. This might remind us of a highly talented player, James Harden. The main reason many GMs and Presidents cite for not considering Harden a potential candidate is because they have no idea when he’ll leave them high and dry.

So, guess Towns’ indifference to his coach had a valid reason. So, what’s next for the 3x NBA All-Star?

The Knicks’ coach is all praises for Karl-Anthony Towns

Thibs and KAT may have their issues, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are blind with hatred. The Knicks coach was impressed with how Towns has grown as a player.

The New York Post’s tweet mentions how Thibodeau spoke of KAT, “As gifted as they come”. 

He wouldn’t be wrong. The most notable achievement was when he won the Skills Challenge at NBA All-Star Weekend (2016). Standing at 7 feet, he proved that even big men can win when they put their minds to it. The man has a career-high of 23.0 points, 52.6% field goal, and 39.5% 3-pointers.

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Thibs is not far when it comes to achievements. He has coached 834 games across 11 seasons in the NBA. Out of these, he’s one over 57% of them. He owns an NBA Championship ring (2008) as Doc Rivers’ chief lieutenant with the Celtics. He’s also been Coach of the Year twice.

With rumors of the Knicks having an eye on the Wolves’ big man for some time now, do you think the 65-year-old coach and his former pupil will get along?

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