Tom Thibodeau did the best coaching job in the NBA this year and, frankly, it wasn’t close.

They were expected to learn how to act and play professionally under Thibodeau this year, to take a step forward and be a representative professional outfit.

The Knicks flirted with .500 most of the year, then went on an extraordinary run across the final month of the regular season.

Even Knicks acolytes, given truth serum, would never have guessed that.

And it was Thibodeau who engineered that.

What he accomplished across 72 regular-season games was obscured a bit by how badly the Knicks looked against the Hawks in the first round of the playoffs — although the Hawks’ performance in Philadelphia on Sunday ought to lessen the lingering disappointment.

He didn’t bat 1.000 this year; he buried Austin Rivers, who sure could’ve helped the Knicks last week while he was helping Denver advance.

The Knicks were a joke for 20 straight years.

And Thibodeau seemed genuinely touched to join the other two Knicks coaches to win the award: Pat Riley and Red Holzman, who led the Knicks of Thibodeau’s youth to the franchise’s only two titles.

Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify

Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify

Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify

Big Apple Buckets: A NY Knicks Basketball Podcast

Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify

Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify