The Knicks fired coach ‘Thibs.' That's just wrong.

Washington Post

2 days ago

I know there are many bigger outrages in the world, but today I would like to share with you the frustration that gnaws at me as a fan of the New York Knicks following the firing on Tuesday of our gruff but beloved — and widely respected — head coach, Tom Thibodeau.
'Thibs,' as he is universally known to the Knickerbocker faithful, had just taken the team to its first Eastern Conference finals in a quarter-century. Sure, they lost to the Indiana Pacers in six games, and that was deeply disappointing — particularly after a historic Game 1 meltdown in which the Knicks somehow blew a 14-point lead with less than three minutes to go. But in the previous round, the Knicks had knocked off the defending champions, the Boston Celtics, and that was a result almost no one saw coming. (The Knicks had not beaten the Celtics once during the regular season.)
The Knicks were on a good trajectory — and worlds removed from the chaos and mediocrity in which they had been mired when Thibs was hired in 2020. Since Jeff Van Gundy stepped down in 2002, the Knicks have had 13 head coaches. Only two of them have delivered winning records, and none could match Thibs's postseason success: He has taken them to the playoffs in four out of five seasons.
This year's roster was the best Thibs ever had, anchored by two All-Stars: the clutch point guard Jalen Brunson and the sweet-shooting big man Karl-Anthony Towns. But Towns had been traded to New York just before the start of the season, while another key player, center Mitchell Robinson, was injured for most of the season. It often takes a team time to jell, and the Knicks appeared to find a new level in the playoffs.
There was every reason to give Thibs an opportunity try to build on the Knicks' success next season. But no. After helping to turn Madison Square Garden once again into the mecca of the hardcourt, Thibs has been sent packing. The decision was said to be made by team president Leon Rose, but looming in the background is the Knicks' mercurial owner, James Dolan, who has been blamed by fans for their long years of suffering.
To me, this seems to violate the fundamental compact of sports: You win and you get rewarded; you lose and you get punished. Thibs won — and he was punished just the same.
Granted, he didn't 'win the chip,' short for championship. No Knicks team has since 1973, but they were heading in the right direction, with a talented roster and a veteran, skilled coach to lead them. Notably, Thibs appeared to have a rock-solid relationship with Brunson, the team captain.
There were, of course, complaints about Thibs. There always are with any coach — or any human being, for that matter. He was often criticized for playing his starters too many minutes and wearing them down by playoff time. But, despite their heavy usage, all of the Knicks starters were healthy in the playoffs.
Another complaint was that Thibs was inflexible in his rotations, that he stuck with his five starters no matter what, despite evidence that the starters were getting outscored when on the floor together. It's a legitimate criticism, but part of the problem was the lack of bench depth. Knicks management dealt away key role players to assemble a fearsome five led by Brunson and Towns.
It would be instructive to see how Thibs would do next season if team president Rose, who has done a superb job so far of upgrading the roster, managed to restock the team with better role players. Now we will never know. Instead a new head coach will be tasked with meeting the high standards set by Thibs — which include back-to-back seasons with more than 50 wins for the first time since the Pat Riley era in the 1990s.
Thibs's firing, unfortunately, is part of a bizarre trend in the NBA of getting rid of successful, experienced head coaches. Every winner of the NBA Coach of the Year award between 2018 and 2023 has been fired. That includes Thibs, who earned the honor with the Knicks in 2021. (He had previously won it in 2011 with the Chicago Bulls.) Even coaches who win the title aren't safe: Los Angeles Lakers coach Frank Vogel won in 2020 and was fired in 2022. Milwaukee Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer won in 2021 and was fired in 2023. Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone won in 2023 and was fired in April, before the end of the regular season. All three are now considered contenders for the Knicks job.
The holy grail that all these teams are chasing is what the Golden State Warriors did in 2014: They fired a winning head coach, Mark Jackson, and replaced him with Steve Kerr, who went on to win even more: Kerr led the team to three titles. But for every Jackson-to-Kerr switch, there are plenty of changes such as the one when the Bulls got rid of Thibs in 2015 and replaced him with Fred Hoiberg. Thibs had a winning percentage of .647; Hoiberg, .426.
I remain enthusiastic about a Knicks team that has become one of the best in the league. I just hope Rose and Dolan know what they are doing. Because what they have done to Thibodeau feels wrong. All will be forgiven if Thibs's successor brings home a title — but there will be hell to pay if the new coach squanders what he built.