‘Startlingly Terrible Decision!’ NY Knicks Stun the NBA World By Firing Coach Tom Thibodeau After Conference Finals Exit

AJ Mast/AP

The New York Knicks stunned the rest of the league on Tuesday when the team announced the firing of head coach Tom Thibobeau after five seasons.

ESPN insider Shams Charania was the first to break the news. As detailed in Charania’s tweet, Thibodeau brought a consistent level of success that the Knicks organization had not seen in more than two decades.

“Thibodeau led the Knicks to their first East Finals in 25 years,” Charania said, “made playoffs in 4 of 5 years and led Knicks to consecutive 50+ win seasons for first time since the 1990s.”

The move to New York followed an unsuccessful three-year stint with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Thibodeau finished his Knicks tenure with a regular season record of 226-174 and a playoff record of 24-23. His regular season winning percentage (.565) is one of the highest in Knicks history.

While the Knicks were unable to win their first championship in more than half a century, the team seemed to improve each year with Thibodeau at the helm. After making the playoffs in Thibodeau’s first season and missing the playoffs the next, the Knicks had back-to-back appearances in the Eastern Conference semifinals before finally breaking through to the Eastern Conference Finals in the 2024-25 season. The team lost that series to the Indiana Pacers 3-2 — just two wins away from a trip to the NBA Finals.

Because of this, many were perplexed by the team’s decision to move on from their most successful coach in years.

—