The New York Knicks have parted ways with head coach Tom Thibodeau.

Tom Thibodeau’s reign as New York Knicks head coach has come to an end, following their Eastern Conference Finals elimination.

The Knicks reached the conference finals for the first time in 25 years, where they were defeated 4-2 by the Indiana Pacers.

Now head coach Tom Thibodeau has been fired, the Knicks have confirmed via a statement.

Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images

New York Knicks statement on Tom Thibodeau

New York Knicks president Leon Rose issued a statement thanking Tom Thibodeau for his work for the team, while explaining the decision.

Rose stated: “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.

“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. Tom will always be a part of our Knicks family and we truly wish him nothing but the best in the future.”

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Reaction to Tom Thibodeau firing

Thibodeau came in for criticism following the Conference Finals, also attracting flak during their run to get there, with the way he limited the minutes of his bench players, putting extra pressure on the starters.

The coach worked wonders for a franchise that was down on their luck before his appointment, and his replacement will be under pressure to follow him.

Celebrity Knicks fan and actor Ben Stiller wrote: “I am a Tom Thibodeau fan. He brought this team back. I felt he gave every bit of himself and was always looking to improve.

“I will always be grateful for how far he brought the Knicks. They are relevant again. They are championship contenders again. The Knicks became winners again with him. Thank you COACH THIBS.”

Thibodeau leaves the Knicks with an overall 226-174 record, and was voted the NBA Coach of the Year in 2021.

Knicks players received criticism for their loss against the Pacers, with Magic Johnson calling out Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns – but it is Thibodeau who has got the boot.

If you’re a New York Knicks fan and thought things were finally on the up after reaching the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since the Clinton administration, think again—because Stan Van Gundy just dumped a bucket of cold Gatorade on your parade. And not the good blue kind either.

During a recent episode of the Nothing Personal with David Samson podcast, Van Gundy lit into the Knicks’ decision to fire Tom Thibodeau, calling it flat-out nonsensical. “That was a big mistake,” he began, with all the subtlety of a Rasheed Wallace post-up. “Tom Thibodeau, one of the best coaches in this league, did an unbelievable job with that team this year. He maximized virtually everyone—OG Anunoby had the best year of his career, Karl-Anthony Towns probably the best year of his career, and Jalen Brunson went from a 15–16 point scorer in Dallas to a star.”

But he didn’t stop there. Oh no. Van Gundy doubled down like Gregg Popovich chewing out a ref. “Josh Hart went from a backup to a triple-double type of guy in New York. He took them places they hadn’t been in a quarter of a century, and then they make a coaching change. Made absolutely no sense to me.” That’s like benching Patrick Ewing mid-playoff run because you think Herb Williams has “untapped potential.”

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Then came the knockout punch: “There’s next levels down also… most of the time what works out is the teams do get to the next level, and that level is down.” Yep, Stan just said the Knicks’ next step might be a nosedive. Not exactly the offseason optimism fans were hoping for.

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Enter Mike Brown—fresh off being tossed by the Kings like a cold slice of Little Caesars. To most, Brown seemed like a backup plan’s backup plan, but some heavyweights disagree. “I love this hire,” said Paul Pierce, adding, “There were only a few people who could get the Knicks to the Finals… Mike Brown was actually one of them.” Bold claim from a man who once called game while wheeling off the court.

via Imago Apr 21, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau speaks to his team on the bench during a time out during the fourth quarter of game two of the first round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs against the Detroit Pistons at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images

But the optimism doesn’t stop with Pierce. Even Mitchell Robinson chimed in with a “Great Pick Up!” via his Snapchat series Keeping Up With Mitch. Not exactly Inside the NBA, but we’ll take it.

Let’s be fair—Mike Brown isn’t just a clipboard guy with colored pens. Though, fun fact: he is very serious about those pens. According to Warriors staff, Brown used to color-code plays with obsessive precision. Teammates would mess with the pens just to see him lose it. Think Doc Rivers with a Rubik’s Cube.

Brown’s coaching career has been a rollercoaster even Six Flags would reject. From his marathon shootarounds with the Cavs and Lakers to getting fired five games into a season with Steve Nash and Dwight Howard (seriously, five!), things didn’t look good. But then came Golden State—basketball rehab for the basketball mind. Under Steve Kerr, Brown mellowed out, learned the Zen of Steph-and-Klay spacing, and somehow became… likable?

“He wore out the Cavs… he wore out the Lakers,” Brian Windhorst recalled. “But being with that sort of very mature, multi-championship winning team mellowed him out. That arc in his career probably helped him.” So, in other words, Steve Kerr is the basketball version of CBD oil.

Why the Knicks Are Rolling the Dice on a New Look

Despite the Thibodeau firing raising more eyebrows than Reggie Miller in MSG, the Knicks aren’t completely crazy. They finished 51–31 last season, boasted a top-10 offense, and absolutely bullied the Celtics in the playoffs. Jalen Brunson averaged 26 and won Clutch Player of the Year, Karl-Anthony Towns dropped video-game numbers, and Josh Hart pulled off nine triple-doubles like it was an afterthought.

But then came the Pacers. Faster, deeper, and sneakier than a Prime Rasheed W allace pump fake. The Knicks’ limited bench and slow pace (26th in the league) got exposed harder than a zone defense against Steph Curry. So, with Thibs unable—or unwilling—to change gears, the front office hit reset.

Now, in comes Brown, who famously turned the Kings into an offensive machine, ranking 2nd in passes per game in 2023–24. Meanwhile, the Knicks ranked just 18th in that category last year. Translation: there’s room to grow, and Mike Brown’s clipboard may hold the answers.

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via Imago Dec 21, 2024; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown calls for a foul during the fourth quarter of the game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images

Mike Brown has something most Knicks coaches haven’t had in decades: a roster that doesn’t need therapy. Jalen Brunson is a bona fide star, KAT is still young-ish and can drop 40 on any given night, OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges provide elite wing defense, and Josh Hart can apparently morph into Oscar Robertson whenever he wants.

The question isn’t talent. It’s pace, ball movement, and whether Brown can blend his Sacramento passing game with New York’s brawny physicality. And also… whether he’s mellow enough now to survive the Madison Square spotlight without turning into vintage 2013 Mike D’Antoni.

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Look, no one’s saying the Knicks are title favorites—this isn’t 1973—but they’ve got a core, some continuity, and now a coach who’s failed, learned, and evolved. That’s more than half the teams in the league.

And hey, at least he won’t get fired five games in… right?

Player input sounded alarms within the New York Knicks’ organization leading to Tom Thibodeau’s firing. It was owner James Dolan who made the final call to move on from a coach who led the team to the conference finals for the first time in 25 years. According to The Athletic’s Fred Katz, Dolan played a larger role than most owners with an abrupt coaching decision.

“The day that the Knicks got eliminated, James Edwards and I came out with that story that we had alignment that (Thibodeau) has support from Jalen Brunson and has the backing of Leon Rose, however, James Dolan is the final decision maker on these sorts of decisions,” Katz said on Friday’s episode of the Katz and Shoot podcast. “And there were some people who aggregated that and said we were reporting that Thibs was safe. No, we weren’t. We were reporting if it were up to Rose and Brunson, Thibs was safe, but it’s not up to Rose and Brunson. There was a final decision-maker, who was leaving it linger. We had an inkling that James Dolan would want (Thibodeau) out. We didn’t know for sure, so we couldn’t report that James Dolan wants to fire Thibs, but we had an inkling.

“Then, Vinnie Goodwill (Yahoo Sports) comes out with an accurate report about what happens during end-of-season meetings. James Dolan sat in on exit interviews, I can tell you, I have spoken to a number of people from a number of different organizations around the league — an owner sitting in on exit interviews is … it raised eyebrows. It’s not a normal, regular thing. That’s not a routine thing. It wasn’t something that happened with the Knicks until this time around.”

Previously, ESPN reported New York’s front office pulled the plug over usage concerns with Brunson and Thibodeau’s failure to make schematic adjustments down the stretch. It did not help that Thibodeau was reluctant to go to his bench throughout the season and had several starters near the top of the league in minutes played.

Discussions from players centered around the overall failure to get the most out of a talented roster led to Thibodeau’s demise according to Katz, who pointed to Dolan as the hammer.

“There were certain players who were somewhat critical of (Thibodeau) during those meetings,” Katz said. “I don’t know if those players brought that up completely on their own, or — if because James Dolan was taking the lead — that there may have been some leading questions in those meetings. But I know those meetings happen, James Dolan leads those meetings, and all of a sudden (Thibodeau) is fired.”

The only public comments made from Thibodeau since the personnel move was a thank you to Knicks fans as the centerpiece of a full-page ad in the New York Times.

“To the best city in the world with the best fans in the world: Thank you,” Thibodeau wrote in part. “When I was hired in 2020, I said this was my dream job. I am grateful that dream 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.”

Katz said there were a number of people in New York’s front office that were “caught by surprise” with Dolan’s decision. He said there were coaches on Thibodeau’s staff who were “paranoid” about losing their jobs down the stretch and after the Knicks lost in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals to the Indiana Pacers.

The Knicks reportedly interviewed four coaches for Thibodeau’s vacancy, the latest being Pelicans assistant James Borrego.

In shocking news that came out Tuesday, the New York Knicks fired head coach Tom Thibodeau after losing in the Eastern Conference Finals to the Indiana Pacers. With many taking issue with the Knicks’ decision to fire Thibodeau, the news also makes light of Jalen Brunson’s comments not that long ago about the subject.

After New York lost Game 6 to Indiana to be eliminated, Brunson would be asked if he believes that Thibodeau is the right coach to get the team over the hump. When Brunson heard the question, the star guard responded as if he couldn’t believe it was being asked in the first place.

“Is that a real question right now? You just asked me if I believe he is the right guy? Yes. Come on,” Brunson said.

“Do you think [Tom Thibodeau] can lift you guys to the next level?” Jalen Brunson: “Is that a real question right now? You just asked me if I believe he is the right guy? Yes.” 4 days ago, JB was asked if he had confidence in Thibs 😳 (via @sny_knicks)pic.twitter.com/P8D7vcC9LQ — ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) June 3, 2025 Expand Tweet

While Brunson thought Thibodeau could lift the team to the next level, ownership had other thoughts.

Knicks’ Jalen Brunson is a Tom Thibodeau “supporter”

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When ESPN’s Shams Charania predicted the Knicks to be aggressive this offseason on Monday, he also mentioned how Thibodeau has the support of the team and front office. When he spoke after the big news, those thoughts would be reinforced, especially about Brunson’s thoughts.

“I didn’t get the sense that this was a unit that had lost faith in Tom Thibodeau, per se,” Charania said on SportsCenter. “I mean, we saw Jalen Brunson’s comments after that game six loss in Indianapolis, when he was asked about Tom Thibodeau, whether he felt Tom Thibodeau was the right coach for this team. And it was as if he absolutely shunned the question.”

“Like Jalen Brunson from everything I understand, he’s always been a Tom Thibodeau supporter,” Charania continued. “That’s someone who’s allowed him to thrive in this league as he joined the Knicks as a point guard a few years ago. So I think there were definitely players that felt like Tom Thibodeau brought the best out of them.”

Shams: “I didn’t get the sense that this was a unit that had lost faith in Tom Thibodeau. Jalen Brunson from everything I understand he’s always been a Tom Thibodeau supporter” pic.twitter.com/yK5WLwA0Rs — Oh No He Didn’t (@ohnohedidnt24) June 3, 2025 Expand Tweet

At any rate, New York now looks for a replacement that will have high expectations after Thibodeau had back-to-back 50-win seasons.

Jalen Brunson Calls Out Knicks Fans Over Latest Decision originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

The New York Knicks have finally found their new coach. To say that the past couple of weeks have been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster for the fans would be a bit of an understatement.

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They couldn’t get past the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals, but still, their decision to move on from Tom Thibodeau was a bit surprising.

Needless to say, the fans may have some things to say about how things have turned out for them since the end of the season.

With that in mind, Knicks fans sold out a Knicks Twitter event to get to know one another and talk all things Knicks.

That’s why Jalen Brunson took to X to complain about the event taking place right after a Holiday, and he urged the fans to change the date for next year:

“Can we not do this on a holiday weekend next year?” he wrote on X.

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Clearly, Brunson has embraced his role not only as the best player on the team but also as a key member of the community.

He’s proven to be worth every single penny, and those who claimed the Knicks overpaid when they got him in free agency have gone radio silent for the past couple of years.

Brunson has grown to become a fan favorite and one of the most beloved players in recent franchise history.

Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Now, he needs to cap it off by leading the team back to the biggest stage for the first time in more than two decades.

Who knows? Maybe next Knicks Twitter get-together will take place shortly after a parade.

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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 6, 2025, where it first appeared.