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Knicks fire Tom Thibodeau after 5 seasons as head coach

Originally posted on Ball Exclusives
By Stephen M. Smith | Last updated Jun 3, 2025 7:49 PM ET

He brought the New York Knicks to the Eastern Conference Finals in his fifth season as head coach, but the franchise has parted ways from Tom Thibodeau.

ESPN’s Shams Charania broke the news Tuesday morning to the shock of NBA viewers.

BREAKING: The New York Knicks are relieving Tom Thibodeau of his duties as head coach, sources tell ESPN. Thibodeau led the Knicks to their first East Finals in 25 years, made playoffs in 4 of 5 years and led Knicks to consecutive 50+ win seasons for first time since the 1990s. pic.twitter.com/B7w8KhoEcF

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 3, 2025

Thibodeau guided the Knicks to back-to-back 50-plus win seasons. New York made it to the semifinal round of the Eastern Conference Finals last year and came up short this time around in the finals to the Indiana Pacers. Thibodeau had the Knicks in the playoffs in four of five seasons; however, he could not get the program into the NBA Finals. In his head coaching tenure, which started 2010-11 with the Chicago Bulls, Thibodeau has produced five seasons of 50 or more wins. He was an NBA Champion in 2008 with the Boston Celtics as an associate head coach under Doc Rivers. New York has a talented roster with Jalen Brunson, Karl Anthony-Towns, and other playmakers, but who emerges as the next candidate to be the head coach?

We will see soon who the Knicks choose, but it has moved on from Thibodeau.

This article first appeared on Ball Exclusives and was syndicated with permission.

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