Knicks fire coach Tom Thibodeau just days after playoff exit
The New York Knicks were eliminated from the Eastern Conference Playoffs in Game 6 from Indiana and now it looks like they are moving on from their head coach.
The New York Knicks are still licking their wounds after a deep run into the playoffs that left them just short of a return to the NBA Finals. That cut just got even deeper for Tom Thibodeau who was fired just days after falling short of the NBA Finals.
Thibs axed in wake of early exit
First reports came from ESPN’s Shams Charania on Tuesday afternoon. Coach Tibs has been with the Knicks since the 2020 season and went to the playoffs in four of those five years. This year was the farthest they have gone in the playoffs since before the turn of the millennium, but the Game 6 loss to the Indiana Pacers was the final straw for those in the front offices of Madison Square Garden.
BREAKING: The New York Knicks are relieving Tom Thibodeau of his duties as head coach, sources tell ESPN. Thibodeau led the Knicks to their first East Finals in 25 years, made playoffs in 4 of 5 years and led Knicks to consecutive 50+ win seasons for first time since the 1990s. pic.twitter.com/B7w8KhoEcF
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 3, 2025
The Knicks haven’t won a title since 1973, and there was genuine belief that this could have been the year that New York gets back to the Finals. They made a huge offseason trade that brought Karl-Anthony Towns to town in exchange for Donte DiVincenzo and Julius Randle, and the trade seemed to work out for both sides.
New York had a 50 win season, ended with the three seed in the East and knocked out the defending champion Boston Celtics in the second round of the playoffs. Indiana got the best of them in the Conference Finals and depth was a big issue.
Did heavy minutes cost Knicks and Thibs?
Coach Tibs is famous for sticking with his show ponies and riding them until the finish line. Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Karl-Anthony Towns were among the players with most minutes player this season, and Mikal Bridges admitted that playing that much “isn’t fun on the body.”
The Knicks were the third team Thibodeau has coach since getting his first head coaching job in 2010 with the Bulls. He won a Coach of the Year award in Chicago before moving on to the Timberwolves in 2016. He stayed in Minnesota until 2019 and the Knicks came calling after missing the playoffs for the previous seven seasons.
He won Coach of the Year again in his first season in NY, and proceeded to take the Knicks to four postseasons in five years. The Knicks will now look to keep the team together while looking for a new coach that can take them to that next step.
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