NEW YORK (AP) — Tom Thibodeau has agreed to a three-year contract extension after leading the New York Knicks to three postseason appearances in his four seasons, a person with knowledge of the details said Wednesday.
The Knicks have made back-to-back trips to the Eastern Conference semifinals and rewarded Thibodeau for turning around what had been one of the worst teams in the league before his arrival.
Thibodeau had one year remaining on his contract before the extension, which was first reported by ESPN and confirmed to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because it had not been announced.
Thibodeau has twice been voted NBA Coach of the Year, including in 2020-21 after leading the Knicks to the playoffs in his first season. They went 50-32 last season, their best record since winning 54 games in 2012-13, and fell one game shy of reaching the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2000.
A Knicks fan growing up in Connecticut who later served as an assistant coach with the team, Thibodeau returned to the franchise in 2020 after the Knicks had missed the playoffs for seven straight seasons.
He promptly led them to a 41-31 record in his first season and has gone 175-143 in his four seasons, placing him fifth on the franchise list for coaching victories.
The Knicks had already agreed to a contract extension with All-Star guard Jalen Brunson during this offseason, traded for Mikal Bridges and re-signed OG Anunoby, and the extension for Thibodeau was expected to follow.
Known for his demanding style and strong defensive teams, Thibodeau guided the Knicks through a number of injuries to earn the No. 2 seed in the East last season. They could be one of the top challengers to the NBA champion Boston Celtics in the East in 2024-25.
Thibodeau was also voted the NBA's top coach in 2011 as a first-time head coach with the Chicago Bulls, after his first of three 50-win seasons in Chicago. Thibodeau also led Minnesota to the playoffs in 2018 and is 527-389 in his 12 seasons.
Thibodeau was an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics when they won the 2008 NBA title and with the U.S. Olympic team when it won a gold medal in 2016.
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New York Knicks' Tom Thibodeau coaches play during Game 4 in an NBA basketball first-round playoff series, April 28, 2024, in Philadelphia. Thibodeau has agreed to a three-year contract extension after leading the Knicks to three postseason appearances in his four seasons, a person with knowledge of the details said Wednesday, July 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
IMI N'TALA, Morocco (AP) — The rescue crews and bystanders are long gone but the remnants of homes still sit in piles off to the side of the jagged roads.
A year after nearly 3,000 people died when a record earthquake shook communities throughout Morocco's High Atlas, it still looks like a bomb just went off in villages like Imi N'tala, where dozens of residents died when a chunk of mountainside cracked off and flattened the majority of buildings.
Broken bricks, bent rods of rebar and pieces of kitchen floors remain but have been swept into neater piles alongside plastic tents where the displaced now live. Some await funds to reconstruct their homes. Others await approval of their blueprints.
The region shook by the earthquake is full of impoverished agricultural villages like Imi N’tala accessible only via bumpy, unmaintained roads. Associated Press reporters revisited half a dozen of them last week ahead of the one-year anniversary.
In some places, residents awaiting governmental permission have begun reconstructing homes on an ad hoc basis. Elsewhere, people tired of the stuffiness of plastic tents have moved back into their cracked homes or decamped to larger cities, abandoning their old lives.
Streets have been neatly swept in towns like Amizmiz and Moulay Brahim, although cracked buildings and piles of rubble remain, much as they were in the days after the quake.
The rhythms of normal life have somewhat resumed in some of the province’s larger towns, where rebuilding efforts on roads, homes, schools and businesses are underway and some residents have been provided metal container homes. But the majority of those displaced from the 55,000 homes destroyed by the temblor remain vulnerable to summer’s heat and winter’s cold, living in plastic tents, impatient to return.
Mohamed Soumer, a 69-year-old retiree who lost his son in last year's earthquake, is angry because local authorities have forbidden him from rebuilding his home on the same steep mountainside due to safety concerns. He now spends his days with his wife in a plastic tent near his now-rubbled home and fears moving elsewhere and restarting his life in a larger, more expensive area.
“Residents want to stay here because they have land where they grow vegetables to make a living,” he said. “If they go somewhere else and abandon this place, they will not be able to live there.”
The government said it would provide households monthly stipends in the aftermath of the earthquake and additional funds for seismically safe reconstruction. But its disbursal has been uneven, residents say, with many still waiting for funds or for reconstruction to commence.
Anger has mounted against local authorities in towns like Amizmiz and villages like Talat N'Yaqoub, where residents have protested against their living conditions. They have criticized the slow pace of reconstruction and demanded more investment in social services and infrastructure, which has long gone neglected in contrast with Morocco's urban centers and coastline.
Officials have said rebuilding will cost 120 billion dirhams ($12 billion) and take about five years. The government has rebuilt some stretches of rural roads, health centers and schools but last week the commission tasked with reconstruction acknowledged the need to speed up some home rebuilding.
In this combination of photos, people set up rugs for prayer outside a mosque damaged in an earthquake in the town of Amizmiz, Morocco, outside Marrakech, Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023, and the same view on Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
In this combination of photos, a man drives past damage from an earthquake in the town of Amizmiz, Morocco, near Marrakech, Sept. 10, 2023 and people walking down the same street on Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
In this combination of photos, a man walks on a damaged road after an earthquake in the town of Amizmiz, Morocco, outside Marrakech, Sept. 10, 2023, and people shopping for food at the same area on Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
In this combination of photos, tents are set up to shelter people displaced by an earthquake in the town of Amizmiz, Morocco, outside Marrakech, Sept. 10, 2023, and the same area on Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
In this combination of photos, an earthquake-damaged hotel in Moulay Brahim village, Morocco, near Marrakech, Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023, and the same view on Sept. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
In this combination of photos, a man inspects damage caused by earthquake in the town of Amizmiz, Morocco, outside Marrakech, Sept. 10, 2023, and a man driving past the same street on Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
In this combination of photos, people walk past the wreckage caused an earthquake in the town of Imi N'tala, Morocco, outside Marrakech, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, and the same road on Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
In this combination of photos, a man runs to his home which was damaged by an earthquake in the town of Amizmiz, Morocco, near Marrakech, Sept. 10, 2023, and the same road on Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
In this combination of photos, people carry possessions as they leave homes which were damaged by an earthquake, in Amizmiz, Morocco, outside Marrakech, Sept. 10, 2023, and the same street on Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
In this combination of photos, people walk past damage from an earthquake in the town of Amizmiz, near Marrakech, Sept. 10, 2023, and a boy driving down the same road on Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
In this combination of photos, a team attempts to recover the body of a woman who was killed an earthquake in the town of Imi N'tala, Morocco, outside Marrakech, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, and the wreckage of the same home on Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
In this combination of photos, people walk past damage from an earthquake in the town of Amizmiz, Morocco, outside Marrakech, Sept. 10, 2023, and the same street on Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
In this combination of photos, people recover a washing machine from their home damaged by an earthquake in the town of Amizmiz, Morocco, outside Marrakech, Sept. 10, 2023, and the same view on Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
In this combination of photos, a man walks on a damaged road after an earthquake in the town of Amizmiz, Morocco, outside Marrakech, Sept. 10, 2023, and people shopping for food at the same area on Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
In this combination of photos, a man looks at damage from an earthquake in the town of Amizmiz, Morocco, outside Marrakech, Sept. 10, 2023, and a man driving past the same street on Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
In this combination of photos, a man drives past earthquake damage in the town of Amizmiz, Morocco, near Marrakech, Sept. 10, 2023, and people walking down the same street on Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
People shop for food at a busy area that was affected by the 2023 earthquake, in the town of Amizmiz, outside Marrakech, Morocco, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
A man drives past a building which was affected by the 2023 earthquake, in the town of Amizmiz, outside Marrakech, Morocco, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
People walk past buildings which were affected by the 2023 earthquake, in the town of Amizmiz, outside Marrakech, Morocco, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
