Knicks fire Tom Thibodeau as coach after five seasons...

4/6/25

By Mediabuzz

Fresh off their deepest playoff run in 25 years, the New York Knicks fired coach Tom Thibodeau on Tuesday.

The decision comes three days after the Knicks were ousted from the Eastern Conference finals in six games by the Indiana Pacers, their longtime rivals. But it also comes after New York advanced further than expected with a relatively new core of players, knocking out the defending champion Boston Celtics in the second round.

Thibodeau, who surpassed Pat Riley earlier this season to rank fourth on the franchise list in victories, led the Knicks to back-to-back 50-win seasons for the first time since 1995. He had been, by far, the club's most successful coach over the past two-plus decades and signed a three-year extension with the team over the summer.

"Our organization is singularly focused on winning a championship for our fans," team president Leon Rose said in a statement. "This pursuit led us to the decision to inform Tom Thibodeau that we've decided to move in another direction. We can't thank Tom enough for pouring his heart and soul into each and every day of being the New York Knicks head coach.

"... Ultimately, we made the decision we feel is best for our organization moving forward. Tom will always be part of our Knicks family and we truly wish him nothing but the best in the future."

Thibodeau had a lengthy history with the Knicks, dating back to the 1990s, when he was an assistant coach under Jeff Van Gundy. Rick Brunson, one of Thibodeau's assistant coaches, played for those Knicks teams and often brought his son, Jalen -- now the franchise's superstar -- to practices and games.

After the season-ending defeat in Indiana, Jalen Brunson was asked about Thibodeau's job status.

"Is that a real question right now?" Brunson said. "You just asked me if I believe he's the right guy? Yes. Come on."

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The Knicks upset the Celtics despite losing all four games between the teams during the regular season -- with three of those losses coming by double digits -- and despite fielding an overhauled group.

The front office sent out five first-round picks for Brooklyn Nets wing Mikal Bridges before dealing Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo to the Minnesota Timberwolves for All-NBA center Karl-Anthony Towns. The swaps left the Knicks with a bit less depth but one of the most talented starting fives in the NBA.

As such, Thibodeau -- long known for playing his starters big minutes, even as the league moves toward using rest more in this load-management era -- leaned heavily on his starting five, playing them far more than any other five-man group in the NBA.

New York was Thibodeau's third head coaching stop in the NBA. Before the Knicks, he coached the Chicago Bulls (2010-15) and Timberwolves (2016-19) and regularly led teams to the playoffs but had not made an NBA Finals appearance.