CNN
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The New York Knicks fired Tom Thibodeau as the organization’s head coach just days after being eliminated from the playoffs at the hands of the Indiana Pacers.
Thibodeau had led the team for five seasons and brought the Knicks back to prominence after years of struggling near the NBA’s basement. The franchise went to the playoffs in four of his five seasons on the bench, but had high hopes of competing in the NBA Finals this year after finally advancing to the conference finals for the first time in a quarter century.
“Our organization is singularly focused on winning a championship for our fans,” said Leon Rose, the team’s president, in a statement posted to X Tuesday.
“This pursuit led us to the difficult 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.”
Rose added, “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. Tom will always be a part of our Knicks family and we truly wish him nothing but the best in the future.”
ESPN’s Shams Charnia was first to report on Thibodeau’s dismissal.
Thibodeau went 226-174 during his 400 games in charge of the Knicks and won the 2020-21 NBA Coach of the Year award during his first season at the helm.
Known as one of the toughest coaches in the league, Thibodeau helped transform a Knicks franchise that had been seemingly allergic to success through much of the 21st century into a playoff mainstay. After a series of off-season moves, the Knicks were expected to contend for a championship this year and seemed primed to do so after rolling through their rivals, the Boston Celtics, in six games in the second round of the playoffs.
However, the Pacers just had the Knicks’ number throughout the Eastern Conference Finals. After the Knicks suffered an epic collapse on their home court in Game 1 – the Pacers overcame a 14-point deficit with a little more than two minutes to play to tie the game and then eventually win in overtime – Indianapolis’ youth, pressure defense and speed were too much for New York.
Thibodeau tried a number of different personnel combinations and strategies to counter the Pacers, but as they did the last time the Knicks got to the conference finals, the Pacers sent New York home for the summer with a blowout win in Game 6.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
