Knicks fire Tom Thibodeau after 5 seasons, conference finals run

“The [New York] Knicks are relevant again, in large part because of the culture that [Tom] Thibodeau helped build. Now they might have to learn the hard way that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side,” columnist James L. Edwards III writes. (Reddit via r/NYKnicks)

By James L. Edwards III / The Athletic

From the 2012-13 season through 2019-20, New York Knicks coaches Mike Woodson, Derek Fisher, Kurt Rambis, Jeff Hornacek, David Fizdale and Mike Miller combined for a total of 238 regular-season wins.

From the 2020-21 season through this year, coach Tom Thibodeau won 226 regular-season games.

Thibodeau, like the revolving door of coaches before him, is now out.

The Knicks relieved Thibodeau of his duties after the team reached the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in 25 years but failed to advance to the NBA Finals. With the goal of winning a championship, people familiar with the decision told The Athletic, the organization needed a new voice, and this was the first step in a process of reaching those heights. Those people also said it was a decision made by Leon Rose, the team president, with the backing of owner James Dolan.

Read that again: New York fired its head coach after doing something it hadn’t done in a quarter-century. The Knicks are relevant again, in large part because of the culture that Thibodeau helped build. Now they might have to learn the hard way that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

Thibodeau, who signed a three-year extension last summer and has $20 million still guaranteed on his contract, led New York to back-to-back 50-win seasons. That hadn’t happened since 1995. Thibodeau also led the Knicks to the conference semifinals three years in a row. That hadn’t happened since 2000. The Knicks finished this regular season with the fifth-best offense in the NBA and the eighth-best net rating. The team was put together one day before training camp and was one of the final four teams standing in the postseason.

The man who played a big part in all of this is now without a job.

Star guard Jalen Brunson said definitively after New York’s season ended that Thibodeau was the right man for the sideline going forward.

“Is that a real question right now?” Brunson said when asked if Thibodeau could take the Knicks all the way. “Did you just ask me if I believe he’s the right guy?

“Yes.”

Neither the Knicks nor Thibodeau achieved perfection this season, and that was part of what made this run special. The team had flaws, yet it found a way to overcome them and dethrone the reigning NBA champions, the Boston Celtics, in the second round.

New York’s core starting group of Brunson, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Josh Hart and Karl-Anthony Towns had a negative net rating for most of the regular season and through the playoffs. That collection of talent never fully maximized its offensive firepower, particularly in the second half of the season; apparently, the decision-makers believe that coaching played a part in that.

Furthermore, there have been questions all season long about Thibodeau’s reluctance to play his bench. In Thibodeau’s defense, the Knicks, because of their financial limitations, did not have the most inspiring bench pieces. Besides Miles McBride, and because Mitchell Robinson missed most of the regular season with an injury, New York’s second unit consisted primarily of journeymen and late draft picks.

Thibodeau also received a lot of flak for playing his starters too many minutes. The starting group during the regular season played more minutes than any five-man unit in the NBA. Bridges and Hart were No. 1 and No. 2 in minutes played during the regular season. Anunoby ranked eighth. Despite that, the Knicks got through most of the regular season healthy. Brunson was the only one who missed significant time, and that was because he turned his ankle in a game. New York’s core players were still standing throughout the playoffs, and the team didn’t lose because of health problems.

Thibodeau and Bridges did have some friction this year when Bridges spoke out publicly about the starters playing too many minutes. Bridges was the first player to speak out against the heavy workload, as most Thibodeau-coached players enjoy that the coach gives them the rope to play significant minutes.

The Knicks’ decision-makers have taken more risks over the past 10 months than in the previous four years combined. The trades for Bridges and Towns, and now the firing of Thibodeau, aren’t just moves around the margins but are franchise-altering decisions.

It’s good that the Knicks have set a high bar. That should be the standard. This move, though, feels like strange timing. The franchise has forward momentum. The core group isn’t even a year old. Now the pressure is back on New York to make sure the next head coach is the perfect hire.

Thibodeau deserved another season, for no other reason than he was pivotal in returning the Knicks to relevancy. He should have gotten another shot to maximize this group.

Clearly, though, New York’s leaders feel different. They have to be right. Otherwise, this Knicks resurgence could suffer major setbacks.