The past 10 days have been a whirlwind for the New York Knicks. After shockingly beating the defending-champion Boston Celtics to advance to the franchise’s first Eastern Conference Finals in 25 years, New York suffered a heartbreaking six-game defeat at the hands of the Indiana Pacers. Many within the Knicks organization must feel that they let the Pacers series slip away due to a Game 1 loss that is among the worst in franchise history. With that said, a bad taste lingers as New York enters the offseason. The first casualty of that was the firing of fifth-year head coach Tom Thibodeau. While letting go of the veteran headman was controversial, James Dolan and Leon Rose undoubtedly made the right choice.
Why the Knicks Firing Tom Thibodeau Was the Right Move
There are two ways to look at the Thibodeau firing. You could be upset that the man who led the Knicks to their best season in 25 years and the first sustained success since the turn of the century was let go of immediately after a Conference Finals birth. It’s indisputable that the Thibs’ hire in 2020 was a resounding success. He helped bring the franchise out of the gutter it’d been stuck in for the better part of a decade. Knicks fans should always be grateful for the work he did. Thibodeau established a culture again at the Mecca of hard work, grit, and consistency that will last long after he’s gone. For that, he deserves massive credit.
However, New York made the right decision. We can all acknowledge that the two-time Coach of the Year is a good coach who is important to the franchise’s history, while also being critical of his shortcomings. After the 2024-25 season, it became clear that Thibodeau isn’t the right man to help this roster reach its ceiling. The Knicks (thankfully) are finally in a spot where they expect to win championships. They proved they can hang with the top of the NBA in these playoffs and should only get better. Therefore, it is time to bring in a coach who can maximize all of that talent.
Thibodeau’s Lack of Adjustments
There will be more time later to truly dive into how inefficient Tom Thibodeau was at deploying the 2025 Knicks roster, but here’s the gist. He routinely played New York’s worst lineups more than their best groupings for reasons still unknown. Many of these issues stemmed from a refusal to decrease Josh Hart‘s minutes with the starters despite both Miles McBride and Mitchell Robinson producing better results. It is well-known that Thibodeau is a stubborn coach who refuses to shift from his philosophies and favorite players, regardless of what’s happening on the court. He also failed to adjust to a deeper rotation against Indiana’s onslaught of bodies until they were down 2-0 in the ECF, and still leaned on Hart far too often.
Don’t get me wrong, Thibodeau is far from the only reason the Knicks lost the series. However, he did them no favors, and it wasn’t the first time. For New York to squeeze all the juice out of this core, they needed someone else pulling the levers.
Minutes Controversy/Players Speaking Out
The other big factor for Thibodeau’s firing is that New York simply needs a new voice in the locker room. As badly as this franchise needed Thibs’ voice five years ago, they need a fresh one going into next year. During the team’s exit interviews following the heartbreaking loss (which Thibs wasn’t a part of), multiple players voiced their displeasure with the head coach. This concerning report came after Mikal Bridges went to the media in March to publicly ask Thibodeau to play his bench more minutes. While that situation got resolved quickly in the public eye, with Bridges hitting a game-winning three on that same day, it’s clear that many Knicks’ players felt the same way behind closed doors. A plea like that should never go unnoticed.
I don’t personally believe that Thibodeau’s minutes strategies directly harmed New York’s fortunes in the Pacers series. However, they’re still indefensible. Although New York finished the season essentially fully healthy, playing your top players more than is necessary is still unwise. Furthermore, his refusal to experiment with lineups consisting of McBride, Robinson, Landry Shamet, and Delon Wright surfaced in the Conference Finals. Thibs was forced to turn to these guys for big minutes, and they delivered. If only they had played more all season. There was simply never any benefit to having the starters carry huge burdens in blowouts against bad teams or on back-to-backs. It seems the players felt the same way.
New York Must Nail Their Next Hire
While I’ll always defend letting Thibodeau go, the Knicks are undoubtedly under pressure to choose his replacement well. Thibodeau was popular within many corners of the organization and fanbase, and his firing ruffled more than a few feathers. More importantly, he’s the most accomplished Knicks coach in three decades, and pulled NY out of the depths of darkness. The next head coach must be someone who’ll uphold the best of Thibodeau’s values while also maximizing the talent. It is unclear who that person will be, and frankly, there aren’t a ton of great options. Leon Rose faces yet another big decision that he must not fail.
Featured image: © Brad Penner-Imagn Images
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