The New York Knicks fired head coach Tom Thibodeau after their loss to the Indiana Pacers in the 2025 Eastern Conference Finals, setting off a firestorm of comments and emotions in the Big Apple.
Thibodeau improved the Knicks' record by 20 games in his first season with the team (2020-2021) compared to the previous season before leading the the franchise to its best playoff finish since 1998-1999 in 2024-25.
On Thursday, comments arose from Knicks guard Josh Hart on the team's recent decision that caught the attention of hundreds of thousands of people.
Rachel Nichols' reaction to Hart's comments said it all as she went to bat for the former Villanova Wildcats star.
Josh Hart of the Knicks.
Josh Hart reacts to a call during the Eastern Conference Finals.
© Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images
Hart called people talking trash about the man known as 'Thibs' "lame as hell" in a post viewed over 368,000 times on Thursday.
Nichols responded with three pairs of clapping hands as she offered a show of support to the Knicks guard.
"Agreed. Why did they fire him?" one fan wrote in response.
"Yeah Thibs gets teams to over achieve," another added. "Good luck getting another coach to do that.
"Oh and they have no plan for getting a coach," another fan added.
"Thibs is bad said NOBODY," another fan added.
Thibodeau spent five years with the Knicks, winning playoff series in three out of five seasons with owner James Dolan's team.
His lone losing season came in 2021-2022 when this Knicks finished 37-45, 11th in the Eastern Conference one year after a first round loss to Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks.