Days after the New York Knicks finished their deepest run in the NBA playoffs in a quarter-century, the team has fired their coach, the team announced.
Tom Thibodeau, who had coached the Knicks for five seasons, is out after a 226-174 overall record with the team, including 24-23 in the postseason. New York advanced to its first Eastern Conference Finals since 2000 this spring but lost in six games to the Indiana Pacers.
The Knicks had not made the playoffs in seven consecutive seasons before Thibodeau was hired in 2020 to help bring the team back to relevance. The Knicks made the playoffs in four of his five seasons, and the second round in each of the last three, but the team, in announcing his firing, effectively sent the message that the standard of success had since changed to winning the franchise’s first NBA championship since 1973.
“Our organization is singularly focused on winning a championship for our fans,” said Leon Rose, the team’s president, in a statement.
This postseason saw all of New York’s weaknesses and strengths on display. It trailed in 12 of its 18 playoff games but also engineered multiple double-digit comebacks, including a pair of 20-point rallies to stun the Boston Celtics, the defending champions, during the second round.
