Tom Thibodeau Salary: New Knicks Head Coach Earned $4.3M Per Year With Bulls

Tom Thibodeau’s salary with the New York Knicks could earn him more than the $4.3 million per year salary he signed with the Chicago Bulls. Can he turn things around for the much-maligned franchise?

Thibodeau is finalizing a 5-year deal to coach the Knicks. The Eastern Conference team, once known as a powerhouse, has been trying to bring back its former glory in recent years. Projects have failed and it pins its hope in a coach who’s had ups and downs in his career.

He used to coach the Bulls for five years. Prior to that, he was an assistant to Doc Rivers in the Boston Celtics. He never missed the playoffs as the Bulls head coach, even recording outstanding regular season win-loss records of 62-20 in the 2011-2012 season and 50-32 in his last year in 2014-2015.

The 62-year-old bagged the Coach of the Year award in his first year in Chicago and he brought out the best in players such as Derrick Rose, who captured the MVP award, Joakim Noah and Jimmy Butler, who made the All-Stars several times.

Given the success the Bulls reached under Thibs — the most wins the team had post Michael Jordan era — fans are questioning why he was let go in the first place. One of the reasons could be the incoming Knicks coach runs a complex system which requires certain types of players. The former Celtics assistant coach likes the workhorse type of players who always go hard in offense and defense. Critics blame him for Rose’s injuries because of his high usage rate.

When he joined the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2016, he brought his ex-players at Bulls — Butler, Aaron Brooks and Taj Gibson. It backfired as the Wolves recorded a dismal record in his first year and only made the playoffs once before the team severed ties with him in 2019.

Celebrity Net Worth reports Thibodeau’s fortune at $12 million. The Salem State alumnus signed a 4-year, $17,500,000 deal with the Bulls. The base salary did not include bonuses such as postseason appearances, per Spotrac.

In New York, details of the deal are still being ironed out but it was revealed it would be five years. That is more than enough time to make the team a contender. If Thibs gets his players to run his system, the Knicks could make a playoff appearance sooner than later.

With LaMelo Ball being eyed as the future first round pick, Knicks fans finally have something to look forward to. They have not been in the postseason after Carmelo Anthony, Jason Kidd, Amar’e Stoudemire and J.R. Smith left the team.