Knicks Stars Bid Farewell to Tom Thibodeau

The Brunsons and more are back in Tarrytown for Knicks training camp after an eventful offseason. The roster is mostly the same (Cameron Payne is perhaps the most notable departure), but the down period was defined by the surprising ousting of previous head coach Tom Thibodeau. The upcoming tour will be Jalen's first foray as a Knick without Thibodeau's supervision while Rick is one of the holdovers from his regime, though he's said to not be returning to the associate head coach spot he held last year.

Though the tip of the Mike Brown era is in full swing, the spirit of Thibodeau lingered over the start of Knicks camp, with Brunson and Mikal Bridges offering fond farewells.

"It's sad to see a man I've known for a long time part ways with this organization," Jalen Brunson said in video from SNY. "He's meant a lot to me. I've expressed that to him publicly and personally. He's meant a lot to my career, up to this point."

"I'm a human first, always so I just feel for somebody going through that, which is always tough," Bridges added in another video from SNY. "I always appreciated Thibs here, great guy and everything. So I just always feel for him."

Thibodeau, who mostly kept out of the public eye since his departure while making fleeting appearances on college campuses, departs Manhattan as the fourth-winningest boss in Knicks history and he was the longest-tenured New York boss since Jeff Van Gundy's seven-year output ended in 2002. New York reached the playoffs in all but one of five seasons at the helm, that output wrapping up with the franchise's first showing in the Eastern Conference Finals since 2000.

Brown's first unofficial showing at the helm will stand at the tip of next month, as an exhibition doubleheader in Abu Dhabi awaits against the Philadelphia 76ers.