Mikal Bridges' contract situation may have inspired Tom Thibodeau firing

But Bridges didn't get a lot of offensive chances in Thibodeau's offense, which features a lot of isolations. One of Bridges' strengths is his three-point shooting, and his attempts dropped from 7.2 to 5.6 per game last season. The Knicks as a team took the fourth-fewest three-pointers in the NBA last season, even though they were eighth-best by percentage.

Beyond style issues, Bridges clashed with his coach about Thibodeau's unwillingness to play his reserves. In March, Bridges told reporters that he and Thibodeau had talked about giving reserves like Landry Shamet more minutes — Bridges led the NBA in minutes played — only to have Thibodeau deny they'd spoken about the issue at all.

Thibodeau is a great coach, but has a blind spot about overworking his players. On Dec. 4, Bridges played the first 46:30 without a rest in a 125-101 win over the Charlotte Hornets, where the Knicks led by 25 points after three quarters. Meanwhile, Josh Hart was second in the NBA in minutes and OG Anunoby was ninth.

It sounds like the decision to move on from Thibodeau, who is still owed at least $30M by the team, came after meetings with key players, presumably including Bridges.

In the NBA, players are nearly always going to have more power than coaches, no matter who they are. With Bridges holding tremendous leverage going into the last year of his deal, the choice between player and coach for the Knicks was clear.