New York Knicks Fire Head Coach Tom Thibodeau Following Team's Best Playoff Run in 25 Years
Summary
TheNew York Knickshave fired head coach Tom Thibodeau following the end of their best playoff run in decades.
'Our organization is singularly focused on winning a championship for our fans,' Knicks president Leon Rose said in a statement viaESPN. 'This pursuit led us to the decision to inform Tom Thibodeau that we've decided to move in another direction. 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.'
'… Ultimately, we made the decision we feel is best for our organization moving forward. Tom will always be part of our Knicks family and we truly wish him nothing but the best in the future,' the statement continued.
The announcement was made just days after the Knicks were defeated by theIndiana Pacersin the Eastern Conference Finals. This marked the first time in 25 years that the franchise made it this far into the playoffs; they last appeared in the ECF in 2000, when they coincidentally also lost the series to the Pacers.
ESPNadds that Thibs became the Knicks' most successful coach in over two decades. On top of making it to the ECF, he also led the team to two consecutive 50-win seasons for the first time in 30 years.
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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Sources: Some Knicks players weren't thrilled with Tom Thibodeau, with his firing being spearheaded by owner James Dolan
OKLAHOMA CITY — The initial shock has worn off from the New York Knicks firing Tom Thibodeau after a successful five-year run and a trip to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2000. What was clear was Thibodeau's firing being spearheaded by Knicks owner James Dolan, sources told Yahoo Sports. Dolan and team president Leon Rose held exit meetings with key Knicks players and the complaints were clear. Advertisement Dolan, whom sources said was never a huge Thibodeau fan through the years, asked the questions in the meeting while Rose took a secondary role. A couple of players felt like Thibodeau played the starters too many minutes and felt he had an inability to adjust, sources said, and another player said he didn't feel like he could play for Thibodeau if the coach returned next season. The complaints obscured the success, perhaps — four winning seasons in five years, the last two being 50-win campaigns. Getting to at least the second round in the last three years was commendable, but perhaps the Knicks left food on the table in the playoffs, falling short to the Pacers last year and this year, the latter in spectacular fashion. Advertisement Thibodeau did play his starters a lot and didn't develop a bench the way other coaches have. Mikal Bridges openly complained about playing too many minutes and that's when it seemed things started to go sideways. You don't fire Thibodeau with three years and $30 million on a contract extension that won't kick in until next season because you lose in the conference finals. You fire Thibodeau because you want to. But it's unclear where the Knicks go from here. Perhaps they try to poach Jason Kidd from Dallas, maybe highly thought of assistant Johnnie Bryant gets his first job — albeit in a difficult situation. Advertisement Some have suggested the coaching search will go into Summer League in July, because it seems the Knicks don't have an outlined plan for the future. Either way, things are intriguing, if not wholly uncertain, in Manhattan.
Indianapolis Star
3 hours ago
- Indianapolis Star
Doyel: Tyrese Haliburton's historic 2025 NBA playoff run has been borderline impossible
OKLAHOMA CITY – The statistics are as preposterous as the shots Tyrese Haliburton keeps hitting, one impossible rainbow after another, none of it making sense – not the stats, not the shots – as Haliburton and the 2025 Indiana Pacers continue to write their storybook postseason march into the 2025 NBA Finals, and perhaps beyond. Perhaps all the way to NBA immortality. Haliburton is there already, authoring an individual postseason run we've never seen before. And before you do that thing people do and criticize – accuse someone of being a prisoner of the moment – ask yourself: When have you seen anything like this? Better yet, ask someone who's seen more basketball than you and me combined, Mark Boyle, the voice of the Pacers since 1988. Boyle was sitting courtside at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on April 29 as Haliburton blew past Giannis Antetokounmpo in the final second of Game in the first round. Haliburton's high-arcing scoop shot fell, and so did the Bucks in five games. Re-live the Pacers unbelievable run to the 2025 NBA Finals with IndyStar's commemorative book Boyle was courtside in Cleveland on May 6 when Haliburton dribbled past Cavs defender Ty Jerome into the lane, then darted back and launched a 30-footer over his outstretched hand to win Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. Boyle was at Madison Square Garden on May 21 when Haliburton did something similar to Knicks center Mitchell Robinson in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, going into the lane and then turning around and dribbling back behind the key for a 23-footer at the buzzer. The shot bounced high off the rim as MSG exploded in happiness, then fell through the basket as the building went silent and the game went to overtime, where the Pacers won. And Boyle was at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on Thursday for Game 1 of these NBA Finals, when Haliburton dribbled Thunder defender Cason Wallace to the right before pulling up for a 21-footer that won the game with 0.3 seconds left. It's absurd, what we're watching. When have you seen anything like this? That's what I'm asking Boyle, after first asking about the pressure of having to say something memorable, something extemporaneous, in the instant after every one of these Haliburton shots. Boyle shrugs about the pressure – he's been calling Pacers games for 37 years; whatever he says, he says – but he's not shrugging about the ride Haliburton is taking the Pacers, and the rest of us, through the 2025 NBA playoffs. 'I've seen things like this – but not at that volume,' Boyle says. 'In other words, Reggie (Miller) did some things, but Tyrese has done in a span of what – a few weeks? – he's done four things at minimum. I don't want to diminish anything Reggie did, or anything any of the greats ever did, but in my personal experience I have never seen anything like this because of the frequency and the short window.' We've not even gotten to the stats yet, the numbers, that prove what we're watching isn't just fun or rare … but borderline impossible. Nor have we asked OKC defender Alex Caruso what it's like to be on the other side of this. Let's do both now. You were promised the preposterous, and here it comes: In the 2025 NBA playoffs, on shots in the final five seconds with a chance to tie the game or take the lead, everyone in NBA not named Tyrese Haliburton is 3-for-16. Tyrese Haliburton is 4-for-4, according to ESPN. You were promised the absurd, and here it comes: This season alone, including the regular season and playoffs, Haliburton has attempted 15 shots to tie or take the lead in the final two minutes. He has made 13. For context, consider something. You're aware Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexnader was named NBA MVP this season, right? It's like this: SGA has attempted seven such shots all season – final two minutes, to tie the game or take the lead – and made exactly none of them. He's 0-for-7. And Haliburton is 13-for-15? I'm asking Boyle about it, and he's nodding. 'To put that into perspective,' he says, 'there are guys playing professional basketball – which means, great players – who could stand on a foul line in an empty gym and not hit 13 of 15.' At this very moment Saturday, the day before Game 2, Paycom Center is mostly empty. The players are here, along with an international group of reporters, but the fans are gone. The place is mostly quiet. I'm asking Thunder guard Alex Caruso about this playoff run by Haliburton. Specifically, Alex: Can you remove yourself from the equation as his opponent, and just appreciate what we're all watching? 'Sure,' Caruso says. 'Yeah – I mean, he's a competitor. I know how good of a player he is. I've got respect for that, and through this run through the playoffs he's made some big shots and big plays. That's who he is.' Haliburton has now hit a last-second shot to beat three of the four teams the Pacers have seen in the playoffs – Bucks, Cavs and Thunder – and his buzzer-beater at New York would've won that game had his toe been outside the 3-point arc. Either way, the shot forced overtime, where the Pacers won. The poor guy charged with defending Haliburton in the final six seconds Thursday night of Game 1, Wallace, was asked if he was aware of that history this postseason. 'Yeah,' he said Saturday. 'That's what we told ourselves because we have seen it. We just didn't want to let it happen to us.' You were promised the impossible, and here it comes: In the last 20 postseasons, there have been seven comebacks where the eventual winning team had a win probability of less than one-fourth of 1 percent. The Pacers have three of those wins – all this postseason. And that doesn't include Game 1 against the Thunder, when 'all' the Pacers did was rally from a 15-point deficit in the final 9½ minutes, and a nine-point hole with 2:52 left., Their win probability at that point was a robust 2.3%. Look at those four victories, and do the math. Well, here, Tom Haberstroh from Yahoo! Sports did it for you: The odds of one team pulling of all four of those comeback ever – to say nothing of doing all four within six weeks – is 1 in 17 billion. One in 17 billion. Your chance of winning the Powerball lottery is 1 in 300 million. Which means you're 57 times more likely to win, say, $200 million than the Pacers were to win those four games during this postseason. And to win those four games, it has taken a team effort clearly. Another statistic: In 33 minutes of 'clutch time' this postseason, the Pacers have committed just two turnovers. Down 10 points in the final seven minutes of Game 1 on Thursday night, the Pacers committed zero turnovers the rest of the way – and this was after they'd committed 25 turnovers in the first 41 minutes. Takes a team to win those four games and overcome those 1-in-17 billion odds. But also, it take Haliburton. Because those were the four games where Haliburton hit his shot in the final second, or at the buzzer. Haliburton hasn't talked much about the run he's one, and I'll be honest: We're not asking him about it. This feels like a no-hitter or even a perfect game we're watching. Who wants to be the one to jinx it? But Haliburton was asked Saturday about the NBA Finals, and these playoffs, in general. 'I'm just cherishing this moment,' he was saying Saturday, 'and just really enjoying what I'm doing right now.' Here was Pacers center Myles Turner, Thursday night, after Haliburton's latest game-winner. 'He's a baller and a hooper and really just a gamer,' Turner said. 'When it come to the moments, he wants the ball. He wants to be the one to hit that shot. He doesn't shy away from the moment. 'He just keeps finding a way … and the rest is history.' Find IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel on Threads, or on BlueSky and Twitter at @GreggDoyelStar, or at Subscribe to the free weekly Doyel on Demand newsletter.
Fox News
4 hours ago
- Fox News
Knicks will seek permission to speak with Mavs' Jason Kidd as coaching search kicks into high gear: reports
The New York Knicks' head coaching search appears to be in full swing. After making the surprising decision to part ways with Tom Thibodeau, the Knicks are now eyeing Jason Kidd as a potential candidate to replace the franchise's fourth-winningest coach. According to ESPN, the Knicks are actively vetting Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd. Since Kidd is under contract with the Mavs, the Knicks would have to submit a formal request to speak to the Dallas coach. The Knicks have yet to request permission to interview Kidd, sources told ESPN. Exploring a trade could also be a route the Knicks could take. But the Knicks did exhaust a considerable amount of draft capital to acquire forward Mikal Bridges. Kidd reportedly interviewed with the Knicks in 2020, but Thibodeau got the job. Thibodeau led the Knicks to their first Eastern Conference finals berth since 2000. The Indiana Pacers eliminated New York in six games. Kidd spent the final season of his lengthy NBA career with the Knicks. Prior to taking the Mavs' head coaching job, Kidd had coaching stints with the Nets and the Bucks. He also served as an assistant coach for the Lakers from 2019-21. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
