“He Got Leftovers!”: Knicks Coach Tom Thibodeau’s Success Validated Frank Vogel’s Phoenix Exit, Says Gilbert Arenas

With teams getting eliminated from the playoffs, fans believe the head coaches are turning into scapegoats. The Los Angeles Lakers fired Darvin Ham after a 4-1 loss to the Denver Nuggets. Now it is the Phoenix Suns, who have fired Frank Vogel after getting swept by the Minnesota Timberwolves. While the Suns are already on a hunt to find their next head coach, some are blaming the Big 3 of the Suns. However, Washington Wizards great Gilbert Arenas believes New York Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau was the reason behind this sudden firing. Odd, isn’t it? Let’s see what Arenas has to say.

Right after Vogel was fired, Arenas shared a video from his podcast speaking about this decision from the Phoenix Suns. He was joined by former NBA veteran Rashad McCants, who believes Vogel was the scapegoat. But Arenas, on the other hand, said the 2020 champion did not use his resources properly.  

Arenas shared, “It doesn’t matter who it is. There is a staple, there’s a guy in New York by the name of Tibs[Tom Thibodeau], who do not have close to the talent there[Phoenix], and he figured out the offense to make it win. So now when I’m sitting here judging a coach, he got leftovers and he’s cooking up meals.” Arenas is referring to the New York Knicks role players as “leftovers” here. Interestingly, the Knicks roster consists of only 4 total All-Star appearances, with three of them being from Julius Randle, who hasn’t played since February.

On the other hand, the Suns have 23 total All-Star appearances courtesy of their Big 3 of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal, among others. While Gilbert Arenas said Vogel “got all the good meat,“ McCants still did not agree with Agent Zero. He believes Thibodeau is successful because the Knicks stars play hard basketball. The Knicks are up 2-0 in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals against the Indiana Pacers. Now that the Suns have called it quits on Vogel, who do you think the next head coach is going to be? 

Phoenix Suns are eyeing another championship coach for the 2024-25 season 

This will be the third time that the Suns will be changing their head coach in the last two seasons. Monty Williams was fired after the Suns lost in the Western Conference Semi-Finals last season. Vogel was hired in June 2023, and within one year, he is out. Reports have revealed that the Phoenix unit will be interested in hiring former Milwaukee Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer. 

Budenholzer helped the Bucks deliver a championship in 2021, by beating the Suns 4-2 in the NBA Finals. He served as the head coach for the Bucks from 2018 to 2023. He won his second Coach of the Year honors in 2019. Considering this incredible resume, it is very likely that the Suns will bring Budenholzer back into the NBA. Let’s wait and watch.