The New York Knicks started their offseason with a bang on Tuesday as they made a major announcement regarding head coach Tomb Thibodeau.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the Knicks announced on Tuesday that they had fired Thibodeau despite helping lead them to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2000.
This move comes as a complete shock after there were many reports saying that New York would run it back with Thibodeau next season, but that will instead not be the case as the Knicks now begin their search for a new head coach.
Thibodeau had a great run in New York as he led the Knicks to the playoffs in four of his five seasons with the team and they just capped off their second consecutive season with 50 or more wins, the first time the franchise has done so since the 1990s.
Despite this, New York clearly believes a change is in order after Thibodeau received a ton of backlash from fans over the past few seasons.
New York Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau.
New York Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau.
© Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
With his firing, Thibodeau now joins a growing list of former Coach of the Year winners who have lost their jobs since 2018.
Of course, the list begins with Dwane Casey, who was fired after winning the award in 2018. Mike Budenholzer, Nick Nurse, Monty Williams and Mike Brown are also on the list and now Thibodeau joins them after Tuesday’s announcement by the Knicks.
Because of this, every NBA Coach of the Year winner from 2018-2023 has now been fired, which is somewhat of a surprise, though with the coaching turnover in the NBA it is not highly unexpected.
Thibodeau will now search for a new head coaching job, which there is only currently one of in the NBA right now outside of New York, which is the Phoenix Suns’ coaching position that they have already narrowed down their two finalists.
Because of this, Thibodeau will likely not be manning a sideline in the NBA next season and the Knicks now begin their journey to finding a replacement for him.