The Magic is in the Work

Congrats, coach.

Last night, Tom Thibodeau got his 500th win as an NBA head coach.

And of course, Thibs being Thibs, it didn’t come without controversy.

Without their usual starting center or starting point guard, and having traded away the backup point guard two weeks ago, Isaiah Hartenstein and Deuce McBride each played the entire second half.

In the mind of the head coach, that was what it took to secure the win against a Grizzlies team missing its entire normal rotation due to injuries.

And you know what? He might not have been wrong.

But of course it’s not that simple, because “right” and “wrong” have always been blurrier concepts under Thibodeau than almost any other coach. The thing most responsible for his success - a maniacal obsession with winning, steeped in a set of unwavering beliefs about how the game should and should not be played - also emboldens his harshest critics.

Surely, he wouldn’t have it any other way.

And now, a dozen seasons into his career as a head coach (and more than 30 if you include his time as an NBA assistant), it’s hard to look at his resume and argue there isn’t a method to the madness.