Knicks’ Tom Thibodeau firing called out by Tyronn Lue

The New York Knicks made a rather controversial move this offseason. Despite making it to the Eastern Conference Finals, New York fired their head coach, Tom Thibodeau. While it wasn’t entirely surprising, the decision to fire Thibodeau was met with criticism from a large portion of the fanbase.

Now, a former head coach has expressed his disappointment in the Knicks’ decision. Tyronn Lue, the current head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers, talked about Thibodeau’s firing. Lue pointed out that Thibs succeeded with New York despite some bad circumstances around him. For Lue, he felt that Thibodeau’s firing made no sense at all.

“The city was on fire, the fans were on fire, the players did a hell of a job and Thibs did a hell of a job,” Lue said on Shannon Sharpe’s “Club Shay Shay” podcast. It just doesn’t make sense. I thought Thibs did a great job.”

Thibodeau was hired by the Knicks during the 2020-21 seeason. Prior to joining New York, the head coach had relatively successful stints in Chicago and Minnesota. Thibs led the Knicks to success in the regular season, amassing a record of 226 wins and 174 losses over five seasons. That regular-season success naturally led to playoff appearances. Unfortunately, Thibs’ Knicks often fell short in the postseason.

Last season, Thibodeau helped lead the Knicks to their first appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals in 25 years. New York beat the Detroit Pistons in six games in the first round. After that, they knocked out defending champions Boston Celtics in six games as well. Unfortunately, their playoff run was cut short in the Conference Finals, losing to the Indiana Pacers in six games.

There were already rumors that the Knicks would can Thibodeau despite barely missing the NBA Finals. Despite their regular-season wins, their continued struggles in the postseason were attributed to the head coach. Thibodeau would be fired by the front office in June, replaced by Mike Brown.