It has been a little over a week since the New York Knicks fired head coach Tom Thibodeau. Thibodeau coached them for five seasons, helping them emerge from the dark days of the late 2010s and re-enter the competitive landscape.
Former Knicks’ head coach Tom Thibodeau thanks fans in an advertisement
For those reasons, many viewed his firing as a shock, especially coming off their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance in over 25 years. New York is still in search of a replacement.
In the meantime, Thibodeau took the rather unprecedented but classy approach to thank the fans in a New York Times advertisement on Tuesday morning.
Thibodeau had a split fan base in the Knicks world. Many felt that he was a great coach and were confident that one day he could lead them back to the NBA Finals and a championship, but many others felt that he wasn’t the guy to finish the job.
Thibodeau leaves behind a legacy in New York
Nevertheless, there is no denying the success he brought back to New York by coming to them. When he was hired back in 2020, the Knicks were the worst team in the NBA with seemingly little hope for the future, putting immense pressure on Thibodeau to be the guy who could finally fix them after years of failures.
Thibodeau immediately got them back to the playoffs in his first season with the Knicks, and would then reach the postseason in three of the next four seasons. He finished with a 226-174 regular season record and a 24-23 postseason record, his highest win percentage in the playoffs in his head coaching career.
Regardless of where the Knicks go in terms of their trajectory, Thibodeau deserves credit for building the foundation of what is now a very competitive Knicks team.
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