The New York Knicks were just two wins away from returning to the NBA Finals for the first time in more than two decades.
Tom Thibodeau made them relevant again, and while they still fell short, it felt like they were heading in the right direction.
Clearly, the front office didn’t feel that way, which is why they let him go after losing in the Eastern Conference finals.
Now, Mike Francesa claimed that it was never about whether Thibs did a good job or not.
Apparently, the decision-makers just didn’t trust him to get the team over the hump (via The Mike Francesa Podcast).
"He did a wonderful job. This was a question as to whether or not the brain trust thought he could finish the job."@MikeFrancesa belives that Tom Thibodeau did a good job as the Knicks head coach, but had a bad set up 🏀 pic.twitter.com/FvcissZKqc
— The Mike Francesa Podcast (@FrancesaPodcast) June 5, 2025
Thibodeau isn’t a flawless coach, but he’s a very good one.
Despite having one of the worst defensive players in the league in Karl-Anthony Towns, he still brought the best out of him for most of the season, and you can tell that most of his players, except maybe Mikal Bridges, would go to war for him.
Even so, as unfair as this may have seemed, Thibodeau is reaping what he sowed.
He’s been a head coach in this league for almost two decades now, and he’s refused to learn from his mistakes.
He doesn’t play his young players or his bench, runs his starters to the ground, and refuses to make in-game adjustments when things aren’t going his way.
He’s a fantastic coach who deserves to have a job, but the Knicks didn’t fire him because of what happened this year; they fired him because his past has shown that he’s not going to change.
NEXT: Rick Carlisle Has Honest Admission About Knicks Firing Tom Thibodeau