Tom Thibodeau breaks silence on shocking Knicks firing

Yahoo

10 hours ago

Tom Thibodeau took the high road.
The ex-Knicks coach thanked the players, fans and coaching staff who supported him during his five-season tenure from 2020 to 2025 in an ad placed Wednesday in the New York Times.
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'To the best city in the world with the best fans in the world: Thank you,' Thibodeau wrote.
'When I was hired in 2020, I said this was my dream job. I am grateful that dreams became a reality. Thank you to our players and coaching staff who gave everything they had, and to everyone who makes this franchise special. I am proud of everything we accomplished together, including four playoff appearances and this year's run to the Eastern Conference finals — our first in 25 years.
'And to the fans, thank you for believing in me and embracing me from day one. Watching you support our team, and seeing the Garden ignite with that incomparable Knicks energy, is something I will never forget.'
His message did not contain any direct mentions of owner James Dolan and the front office led by Leon Rose.
The Knicks made the controversial decision last week to move on from Thibodeau with three years and roughly $30 million left on the contract extension he signed in 2024.
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Thibodeau, 67, led the Knicks to a 226-174 record in five seasons and four playoff appearances, including this year's run to the franchise's first conference finals berth since 2000.
He also spent seven seasons as an assistant from 1996-2003.
Despite beating the heavily favored Celtics in this year's conference semifinals, the six-game loss to the Pacers marked the third straight year the Knicks' season ended at the hands of a lower seed.
Tom Thibodeau during the playoffs. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
The Post previously reported that Knicks brass essentially believed Thibodeau would not deliver the team to a championship and thus opted to make a change.
Several Knicks players were also frustrated with Thibodeau's no-nonsense style.
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'Our organization is singularly focused on winning a championship for our fans. This pursuit led us to the difficult decision to inform Tom Thibodeau that we've decided to move in another direction,' Rose said in a statement following Thibodeau's dismissal. 'We can't thank Tom enough for pouring his heart and soul into each and every day of being the New York Knicks head coach.
'He led us not only with class and professionalism for the past five seasons, but also to tremendous success on the court with four playoff berths and four playoff series victories. Ultimately, we made the decision we feel is best for our organization moving forward.'
Thibodeau coached the Knicks to their first Eastern Conference finals since 2000. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
While several early targets have emerged in the Knicks' search, the team is seemingly running into some roadblocks.
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The Post first reported that the Mavericks plan to turn down the Knicks' request to interview Jason Kidd — the betting favorite to land the job — and two other teams have already said no to requests.
Houston is not letting the franchise interview Ime Udoka and Minnesota is doing the same with Chris Finch.
Former Villanova coach Jay Wright is not a candidate, while two-time national champion UConn coach Dan Hurley indicated he's staying in the college ranks.
Cavaliers assistant Johnnie Bryant, who used to be on Thibodeau's staff, remains an option.