The New York Knicks fired head coach Tom Thibodeau three days after the team was eliminated in the Eastern Conference finals, which marked the club’s best playoff run in 25 years.
The surprise move took place ahead of Thibodeau’s three-year contract extension signed last year that was set to start with the 2025-26 season. The deal was worth roughly $11 million per year, according to someone familiar with the details, and ranked tied for sixth among the highest-paid NBA coaches.
Thibodeau is expected to collect the full value of the extension, although the deal likely includes offsets if he takes another head coaching job. The Knicks declined to comment on his contract details.
The Knicks hired Thibs ahead of the 2020-21 season and signed him to the contract extension last summer after their first 50-win season since the 2012-13 season and a second straight trip to the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Thibodeau is a two-time NBA Coach of the Year, and the Knicks were his third team after stints in Chicago and Minnesota. He’s built a reputation as a defensive specialist and someone with incredible attention to detail, and the hard-driving style has led to him wearing out his welcome at his coaching stops.
“Our organization is singularly focused on winning a championship for our fans,” Leon Rose, team president, said in a statement. “Ultimately, we made the decision we feel is best for our organization moving forward.”
The Knicks’ last title was in 1973; they lost trips to the NBA Finals in 1994 and 1999.
Thibodeau had a 226-174 regular-season record over five seasons with the Knicks. The win total ranks fourth in franchise history. With the recent retirement of Gregg Popovich and firings of Michael Malone and Taylor Jenkins, there were only two NBA coaches in place longer with their current teams than Thibs, in Erik Spoelstra (Miami Heat) and Steve Kerr (Golden State Warriors).