Knicks Owner Had Abnormal Role in Coach’s Firing

The New York Knicks have had a tough go at it in the 21st century. They've had a profitable start to the 2020s, but have subjected their loyal fan base to plenty of horror stories.

Through countless sagas of mismanaged rebuild attempts and ill-conceived hires, James Dolan, the team's principle owner, has sustained as a common denominator. The longtime businessman has always somewhere nearby during the chaos, drawing the lion's share of the blame from the public for the Knicks near-constant string of incompetence to open the century.

So when it was reported shortly after head coach Tom Thibodeau's firing that Dolan "spearheaded" the changing of the guard, alarms went off for fans with plenty of experience dealing with his meddling. As it turns out, other figures around the league have noticed, too.

"The day that the Knicks got eliminated, James Edwards and I came out with that story that we had alignment that (Thibodeau) has support from Jalen Brunson and has the backing of Leon Rose, however, James Dolan is the final decision maker on these sorts of decisions," NBA insider Fred Katz said on Friday's episode of the Katz and Shoot podcast. "...We had an inkling that James Dolan would want (Thibodeau) out. We didn't know for sure, so we couldn't report that James Dolan wants to fire Thibs, but we had an inkling."

"Then, Vinnie Goodwill (Yahoo Sports) comes out with an accurate report about what happens during end-of-season meetings," CBS Sports' Brad Crawford wrote. "James Dolan sat in on exit interviews, I can tell you, I have spoken to a number of people from a number of different organizations around the league — an owner sitting in on exit interviews is ... it raised eyebrows. It's not a normal, regular thing. That's not a routine thing. It wasn't something that happened with the Knicks until this time around."

Dolan was reportedly fascinated to hear what most players thought about the team's coach of five years, with Thibodeau sustaining more in-house criticism than usual amidst an up-and-down regular season. He had his fans in the locker room, but some key Knicks were clearly unafraid to air their frustrations, even if he wasn't too receptive to some complaints.

It's been one thing for the Knicks to have made what looks to many like a rash move by splitting with as successful a coach as Thibodeau without a clear replacement plan in place. The newest dump of Dolan-related drama gave some of the team's more weathered fans uncomfortable memories of their wild past.