Head Coach Tom Thibodeau has been fired by New York Knicks on Tuesday, three days after the team’s season came to an end with the loss to Indiana Pacers in Game 6 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals.
Popularly called Thibs, his sacking was announced by Knicks president, Leon Rose, who revealed that decision was taken due to the singular purpose of the franchise being to win the championship.
“Our organisation is singularly focused on winning a championship for our fans,” Rose said. “This pursuit led us to the difficult decision to inform Tom Thibodeau that we’ve decided to move in another direction.“
Thibs guided the Knicks to the playoffs in four of the five seasons as Head Coach, with the team making the Conference Finals for the first time in 25 years this season. Coincidentally, the knicks also lost to the Pacers in six games back in 2000.
67-year-old Thibs, who had signed a three-year contract extension almost a year ago in July 2024, was just two games shy of becoming the 35th head coach in NBA history to win 1,000 games.