The New York Knicks made an impressive run to the Eastern Conference Finals run during the 2024-25 NBA season. Unfortunately, they ran into a red-hot Indiana Pacers team who were able to eliminate them in six games.
Following the series loss, there were questions about whether or not the Knicks could consider firing head coach Tom Thibodeau. Despite the speculation, that was not a move the team was expected to make after such a successful season.
Thibodeau was indeed relieved of his head coaching duties on June 3.
Making that kind of move was a bit of a head-scratching decision. What has happened since as New York looks to find a new head coach has made the decision look even worse.
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So far, the Knicks have requested a lot of interviews with current head coaches across the league. They have been denied for those interviews.
It has been reported that the Dallas Mavericks denied a request to interview Jason Kidd, the Minnesota Timberwolves said no to Chris Finch, the Houston Rockets did the same with Ime Udoka, the Atlanta Hawks rejected a Quin Snyder interview, and the Chicago Bulls also shut down the idea of Billy Donovan.
To this point in the team's search, New York has swung and missed on every candidate it has the most interest in.
Now, ESPN NBA insider Brian Windhorst has spoken out with some harsh criticism for the Knicks' decision to fire Thibodeau and their approach to finding a new head coach.
"It doesn't make sense to poach coaches that are on teams that have just had highly successful seasons and are in the middle of long-term contracts," Windhorst said. "So I think that they have failed in their strategy here of how they have approached this decision."
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There are plenty of other candidates New York could turn to who aren't currently the head coach of another team.
Among those names are Johnnie Bryant, Michael Malone, Taylor Jenkins, Jay Wright, Dan Hurley, and Jeff Van Gundy. Frank Vogel could be another name to watch.
Outside of those names, there are other candidates. It seems very unlikely that other teams around the NBA are going to let their head coaches walk to join the Knicks. They may not get any of their top choices.
For more on the New York Knicks and general NBA news, head on over to Newsweek Sports.
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This story was originally published June 12, 2025 at 10:04 AM.