Knicks Center Reveals Tom Thibodeau’s 4-Word Reaction to His Viral Dancing Video

Getty Mitchell Robinson #23 of the New York Knicks looks on prior to their game against the Charlotte Hornets.

New York Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau finally saw the viral video of him dancing on the stage.

His reaction?

“He’s like, ‘That’s [expletive] up,’” Knicks center Mitchell Robinson revealed to reporters after showing the viral video to his coach.

Thibodeau then accused his goofy center of creating the video.

“[Robinson] didn’t tell you the other part of that. I think it came from him,” Thibodeau told reporters in jest.

Robinson said Thibodeau kept blaming him.

“I told him I thought it was funny so I just want to share it with you,” Robinson said. “I don’t think he takes jokes like that.”

Knicks fan who goes with the X, formerly Twitter, handle @_TheBigSneeze created the video with the help of artificial intelligence.

Bailey Carlin, formerly of Sports Illustrated and Barstool Sports, picked it up and shared it to his followers. The video has already generated 3.4 million views on Carlin’s X page while more than more than 441,000 views on the original creator’s X page as of April 16.

Tom Thibodeau theorizes that Mitchell Robinson made the viral meme video of him taking the stage.

Mitch’s response? 🤣

(h/t @_TheBigSneeze, @BaileyCarlin)

Thibodeau, a basketball lifer, has earned a reputation for being serious and gruff in his coaching career. But he has has warmed up over the years and shared laughs with reporters several times during his Knicks tenure marked by three playoff appearances as he becomes the most successful Knicks coach since his friend and mentor, Jeff Van Gundy.

Thibodeau’s reaction to the viral video is one of the rare lighter moments in the midst of another challenging season marred by several major injuries to their key players, none bigger than Julius Randle’s season-ending shoulder surgery.

But like he always does, Thibodeau found a way to maximize what’s left in his team as the Knicks stunningly took the No. 2 seed in the East.

Tom Thibodeau Didn’t Receive Coach of the Year Votes From Peers

Mark Daigneault of the Western Conference’s top seed Oklahoma City Thunder deservingly won the National Basketball Coaches Association’s NBA coach of the year.

But surprisingly, Thibodeau, a two-time NBA Coach of the Year, did not receive votes from his coaching peers despite leading a skeleton Knicks roster to the second-best record in the Eastern Conference.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Cleveland’s J.B. Bickerstaff, Minnesota’s Chris Finch, Boston’s Joe Mazzulla and Orlando’s Jamahl Mosley were the other coaches who received votes.

Tom Thibodeau in Line for Lucrative Extension

In the wake of the skyrocketing NBA coaches salaries, Thibodeau is due for massive pay raise as well after leading the Knicks to the postseason thrice in his first four years in New York.

Thibodeau’s current five-year deal which pays him $7 million annually pales in comparison to the new deals his coaching peers have received — Monty Williams (six years, $78.5 million), Doc Rivers (three-plus seasons, $40 million) and Steve Kerr (two years, $35 million) and Erik Spoelstra (eight years, $120 million).

“As is the case with any coach whose contract situation is in question, the outcome of the postseason will surely matter when it comes to what comes next,” The Athletic’s Sam Amick wrote on March 22. “But league sources say he hopes to secure his future with the Knicks when both sides plan to revisit the topic this summer.”