Tom Thibodeau, New York Knicks (Photo by Zhong Zhi/Getty Images)
The year is 2011. The New York Knicks are coming off a season that saw the team pull off a blockbuster trade to acquire then 5-time All-Star Carmelo Anthony to pair up with fellow All-Star, Amare’e Stoudemire.
Prior to acquiring Melo, the Knicks were fighting to stay alive in playoff contention with a rag-tag team of misfits that included the likes of Landry Fields, Danilo Gallinari, Raymond Felton (for the first time), and some other forgotten Knicks who have been lost to the sands of time, all wrapped up with a bow in the shape of a star power-forward whose injuries would inevitably catch up to him sooner than later.