O’Donnell: D-Rose softens New York kookiness in praising Thibodeau
MOST SKEPTICAL BULLS FANS ARE ALWAYS looking for signs that their listless favorites don't have the most clueless front office in the NBA.
That can be a daunting search. But look east and consider:
· New Knicks coach Mike Brown hasn't won a playoff series in 13 years; and,
· NYK president Leon Rose hasn't spoken to the media since 2021.
That's New York minutes of nuttiness, especially after the recently fired Tom Thibodeau just led the Knicks to their first appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals in 25 years.
THIBODEAU, NOW FREE FLOATING AT THE TOP of the ranks of quality unemployed head coaches in the NBA, also drew praise from past star protégé Derrick Rose over the weekend.
Speaking to media after the third and hopefully final presentation of that July NASCAR backfire in downtown Chicago, Rose said:
“It's crazy. I talked to Thibs after that. He's good. You can't be mad when you're walking away with $30 million. So I can't feel sorry for him.
“He's in good spirits. That's my guy. We locked in 'til the end. But he's good and Jalen (Brunson) still in New York. He's gonna be ballin'. Everybody wins, I feel like.”
(D-Rose is obviously ready for some kind of new-mill diplomatic corps.)
Thibodeau has not spoken to the media since being poleaxed five weeks ago.
He coached the Bulls for five seasons (2010-15), never had a record worse than 45-37 and quite likely had a perennial NBA championship contender if Rose hadn't blown out a knee in the opening game of the 2012 playoffs.
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RED-HOT SPORTSWRITER CHRISTINE BRENNAN begins a quick, 13-city tour in support of her new book about Caitlin Clark, the WNBA and the growth in women's sports Wednesday with a homespun twist.
Brennan, one of the best in the business, will open her extended excursion in Ottawa Hills, Ohio, close to her native Toledo.
The USA Today columnist saw the official release of her “On Her Game: Caitlin Clark and the Revolution in Women's Sports” Tuesday (Simon & Schuster, $29.99). It has a strong chance of being the bestselling sports-themed book of the year.
More than half of Brennan's baker's dozen will be in either Iowa or Indiana.
The Chicago region gets one, on July 24, when The Bookstall in North suburban Winnetka will be the site of a signing by Brennan. Her phase one of promotion ends July 30 in Cincinnati.
STREET-BEATIN':
Ten days ago, any Cubs fan gladly would have taken the possibility that the team may be no worse than 10-2 in July at the All-Star break. Now Cade Horton can move that possibility along Wednesday at Minnesota (6:40 p.m.; Marquee SN, AM-670). A sweep of Aaron Judge and the slumping host Yankees this weekend would be positively 2016. …
Deepest Wrigley Field sentimentalists can't help but notice that Boston's Aroldis Chapman has been selected for his eighth ASG. Way back in July 2016, Chapman was the final piece laid into Joe Maddon's championship jigsaw. And the full facts of his domestic contretemps in Florida at the time of his arrival in CHI was heinously misreported by far too many segments of the local media. …
Mike Rizzo's unfortunate ashcanning by the Nationals has to be stirring some imaginations around the White Sox's Rot Field. The River Grove native — and Gene and Jude's hot dogs devotee — won the 2019 World Series as Washington G.M. and leaves a promising future in place at Nationals Park, including this year's No. 1 draft pick Sunday. He also got a boatload for pricey prince Juan Soto in 2022. …
The highwaymen of Churchill Downs Inc. open a 41-day summer meet Wednesday at Virginia's Colonial Downs. Obnoxious highlight of the season comes Aug. 9, when Bunker Bill Carstanjen and crew once again present the pilfered Arlington Million, Beverly D. and Secretariat. (Back in abandoned Arlington Heights, that day will be nothing more than salt in the open prairie wounds.) …
No golf writer in the land reported with greater authority about the disappointing meltdown of Buffalo Grove High grad Doug Ghim at the John Deere Classic this past weekend than Daily Herald columnist Len Ziehm. Ghim led after two rounds, stumbled with a 74 on Saturday and putt-putted home tied for 31st. He's still looking for his first PGA tour win; Ziehm's been chronicling Ghim since he was a teen. …
And, as if off-season reporting on the NFL wasn't already too immersive, an ambitious online outfit billed as Pro Football Network has the Bears taking Colorado cornerback DJ McKinney with the No. 16 pick in next spring's 2026 draft. (That choice would likely mean 8 or 9 wins this season, no playoffs and a hold on the 1920 Football Drive canonization of young Ben Johnson.)
Jim O'Donnell's Sports and Media column appears each week on Sunday and Wednesday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com. All communications may be considered for publication.