When Tom Thibodeau became the Head Coach of the New York Knicks, the team had just won 21 games. The season before that, the Knicks won 17 games, and the season before that, the Knicks won 29 games. Thibodeau stepped into a challenging situation, and he embraced the challenge. During his five seasons coaching the Knicks, he led the team to 50-win seasons twice and an Eastern Conference Finals appearance.
With that said, why did the Knicks fire him? A lot of speculation is floating around, and without getting into all of it. I question whether the Knicks want to win. I also asked what accord they wished to win. Hey, nothing or no one is perfect, but Thibbs finds a way to win games, no matter where he goes. He won a Championship with the Boston Celtics as an assistant. He had five winning seasons in Chicago. One out of three winning seasons in Minnesota, and four out of five in New York. Yes, he’s a hard-nosed coach who requires discipline to play for, but he also gets results.
It wasn’t a smart move.
Firing Tom Thibodeau was not a wise decision for the New York Knicks. However, our sources told us that Thibbs’ replacement could be Jalen Brunson’s father, Rick Brunson. Rick Brunson has several years of experience as an assistant coach, having worked for the Chicago Bulls, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Dallas Mavericks. Some people feel that hiring Rick would make his son happy, and players like Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges would be on board with this.
Bridges is entering the last year of his contract, and he turned down the extensions the Knicks offered him. Losing Bridges would be a significant loss for the Knicks. Mainly after they traded five future draft picks to get him.