Mar 7, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; New York Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau at a press conference at the Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Former Coach Pessimistic on New Look Knicks

Originally posted on New York Knicks on SI
By Henry Brown | Last updated Jun 12, 2025 11:00 AM ET

The New York Knicks entered their offseason with big plans, circling big-name free agents to woo and a head coaching upgrade once they determined that Tom Thibodeau's time had run up after five years with the team.

As ambitious as they were, none of their big plans have come anywhere close to fruition. Both Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kevin Durant are looking less likely to jump to New York than ever, but more worrisome has been their inability to induce interest out of any of the coaching candidates they've looked to pry from other teams.

PJ Carlesimo, a veteran NBA coach himself, sees the Thibodeau firing and their evident lack of a clear backup plan as not only hasty, but indicative of the team New York has historically been throughout the 21st century.

"That's the Knicks. They don't know what they're doing there. They're their own worst enemy, they've been their own worst enemy," he said on the Ryan Russillo Podcast.

"That's the Knicks. They don't know what they're doing. They are their own worst enemy."

P.J. Carlesimo joined @ryenarussillo and shared his reaction to the Knicks firing Tom Thibodeau.

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"I still come back to, 'Where the hell are they going?,'" he continued. "You're gonna do a thing like that, you would've thought they had a deal in the door or something...[Jason] Kidd's the only name I see that seems to have any traction."

Kidd, as ESPN's Shams Charania reported, is still under contract with the Dallas Mavericks, and the Knicks' request to interview him would be immediately shot down if they were to reach out.

This is coming off of two magical Knicks years, as Carlesimo points out, in which New York appeared in five playoff series and finally made their long-awaited return to the Eastern Conference Finals after 25 years of falling short of winning back-to-back playoff rounds.

Carlesimo admits his bias, having squared off against the former New York coach numerous times over the years as the two cycled through head and assistant coaching roles across the league, but after years of watching the Knicks squander potential and opportunity before hiring Thibodeau in 2020, he sees this as the same old Knicks returning to get in their own way.

"Knicks always think they're smarter than everybody else," he said. "That's the Knick philosophy. 'We know what we're doing.' And I'd say they're normally the opposite."

This article first appeared on New York Knicks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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