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The New York Knicks fired head coach Tom Thibodeau after taking the franchise to its first Eastern Conference Finals in 25 years, but seemingly have no plan in place in the aftermath. As such, the franchise was recently cooked by Hall of Famer Charles Barkley.
Since the controversial firing of Tom Thibodeau — which came after leading the Knicks to a 51-31 record and an appearance in the ECF, — the New York Knicks have had interview requests with Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd, Houston Rockets coach Ime Udoka, Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovanm and Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch denied.
Even if the Knicks did have the interview requests approved, there’s still no guarantee they would have convinced their targets to join the team, especially after dismissing a coach who was universally considered to have done a good job.
The Knicks having multiple interview requests denied indicates that the franchise did not have a clear successor to Thibodeau lined up, leading Charles Barkley to call them the “stupidest people in the world.”
“The Knicks gotta be the stupidest damn people in the world. You don’t fire no good coach like that and don’t have a plan. I mean, Thibs did a hell of a job, obviously something’s going on there. You don’t have a plan? And now three coaches have turned you down. You’ve gotta have a plan, man. And they don’t have a plan. I don’t know what the hell they’re going to do.”
Charles Barkley: “The Knicks gotta be the stupidest damn people in the world.” 🏀🎙️ #NBA #NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/CG6OABC778
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 12, 2025
The Indiana Pacers beat the Oklahoma City in Game 3 of the NBA Finals by a score of 116-107 to take a 2-1 lead in the series. Over the course of NBA Finals history, the winner of Game 3 when the series is tied has gone on to win the Finals 84% of the time.
You can check out Barkley’s full segment ahead of Game 3 of the NBA Finals below. Game 4 of the 2025 NBA Finals will tip off Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indiana on Friday, June 13 at 8:30 p.m. EST.