By Joel Perez 
The New York Knicks have relieved Tom Thibodeau of his duties as Head Coach. Thibodeau is
the winningest Knicks coach since the ’90s—back when Pat Riley was in town and even Jeff
Van Gundy had some solid success, including that Finals run in 1999 before he resigned.
From 2000 to 2020, the Knicks won just one playoff series. Since Thibs was hired in 2020,
they’ve won four. Just a few days ago, they were two wins away from the NBA Finals. He’s led
the Knicks through their most successful stretch this century and even won Coach of the Year in
his first season with the team.
Unfortunately for Thibodeau, this move feels more like the front office wanting a fresh face to
figure out some of the offensive kinks and unlock more from Mikal Bridges—the guy they traded
five first-round picks for (four of them unprotected). Of course, the one nitpick everyone has
(myself included) is Thibs’ coaching style: riding his starters way too hard. By the time the
playoffs come around, guys just don’t seem healthy or energized enough to go 100% in the
biggest games of the year.
Thibs has long been known for this. We’ve been hearing this same complaint since his Chicago
days—remember how Luol Deng was basically living on the court? For three straight seasons,
Deng averaged 39 minutes per game under Thibs.
What I found interesting was something Bill Simmons said on his podcast yesterday: the firing
came just one day after news broke that the Phoenix Suns had narrowed their coaching search
to two finalists—both on Cleveland’s coaching staff: associate coach Johnnie Bryant and
assistant Jordan Ott. Maybe it’s just a coincidence… but still, kind of intriguing.
Another possible reason for Thibs’ exit? His relationship with Karl-Anthony Towns. Back in
Minnesota, there were whispers about the two not exactly seeing eye-to-eye, and now Thibs
has been let go for a second time with KAT on the roster. They couldn’t be more different in
terms of basketball philosophy—KAT is all offense, and while he’s elite on that end, he’s wildly
inconsistent defensively. He’s also known for taking some of the worst fouls at the worst times,
and you just know that must’ve driven Thibs crazy. The man is all about defense, after all—or at
least that’s what every basketball mind says about him.
But at the end of the day, he and the Knicks came up short against the Pacers, and now the
search for a new Head Coach begins.
From all the chatter on NBA Twitter—or the “NBAverse” as I like to call it—this offseason is
shaping up to be one of the wildest we’ve seen in a long time. Then again… every NBA
offseason has something huge happen. Because let’s be honest, it’s the NBA. What’s the
league without a little drama?
Maybe Giannis comes to New York. Maybe even Kevin Durant. Nowadays, anything’s possible
in #thisleague.
Shoutout Marc Stein.
Angel Rivera