The Knicks Fire Tom Thibodeau After He Led Them To Their First Eastern Conference Finals In 25 Years
Whoaaaaaaa. Even though Thibs has been the target of every Knicks fans scorn whenever a young guy didn't get enough minutes or a vet got hurt because he played too many minutes over the last five years, I thought he was going to get a chance to run it back next season considering the Knicks have improved every year on his watch outside of that cursed Kemba year. Instead he gets shown the door after a deep, fun, but ultimately unsuccessful playoff run, which apparently may not be much of a shock to the people inside the team.
Now listen, I have occasionally worn the uniform of the Minutes Police when Thibs kept starters, including injury-prone ones, in the game with the Knicks up 30 with less than 3 minutes left in the contest. I also haaaaaaaated his outright refusal to give bench players a real shot, which would've developed different units for the Knicks to play together, help in a playoff series against a team that plays with pace and goes 100 guys deep (hypothetically speaking). But I still thought taking the Knicks to the furthest they have been in the playoffs for 25 years and just signing an extension would give Thibs at least one more season on the Knicks bench.
I thought Thibs may have had to hire someone to coach the offense so the Knicks attack would actually resemble an actual offense, along with a promise to the front office to give whatever bench he has next year a chance to bloom as a unit in what should be a pretty bad Eastern Conference. But considering coaching the Knicks was his dream job, I thought he'd be willing to bend a little in order to continue to be HC of the NYK, like he did when he allowed more switching than he ever has in the Celtics series. You can't say the players got the Knicks to the Eastern Conference Finals but Thibs lost it for them there. This was a total team effort from top to bottom.
Speaking of which, I know we do not speak of his name these days since he doesn't seem to meddle, but part of me wonders how much James Dolan may have had to do with this decision. There's a chance he finally wised up enough to know to stop meddling and let Leon cook. But there's the side of me that always feared he'd come storming back in with his iron fist and kazoo to tell Leon what the orders were from up top since that was a signature Wilpon move whenver the Mets rose from the pits of sports hell once every 5-10 years.
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Regardless, Tom Thibodeau is no longer the head coach of the New York Knicks, a team he took from a laughingstock to their best season in 25 years. He may be stubborn, which is extremely evident by his refusal to shave the few hairs still remaining on the top of his head. But he made the Knicks winners and cleaned up a bunch of bullshit in the organization along the way, even though he ultimately fell short of his goal. I think that pretty much makes him the basketball version of Buck Showalter, which has me hoping the Knicks go on a run after he leaves like the Yankees and Diamondbacks did.
As for Thibs' replacements, I figure we're gonna hear all the marquee coaching names like we do with free agent players when they become available. I've already seen Jay Wright and Danny Hurley brought up multiple times, along with Michael Malone even though he feels like a younger Thibs with more hair and a ring thanks to one of the greatest players we've ever seen on a basketball court. The Maniac Formerly Known As Ron Artest has thrown his hat into the ring as well, which would've been a much more serious story if Isiah Thomas was still running the franchise into the ground.
As a Knicks fan, I'm gonna believe the best option will be hired and will finally bring a title back to New York because that's how my Knicks fan brain will think until the day this team (and my diet) ultimately kill me. Go New York, Go New York Go. In Leon We Trust. Thanks For Everything Thibs.