Firing Tom Thibodeau hasn't helped NBA teams

The New York Knicks fired Thibodeau after his team lost in the Eastern Conference Finals in six games. It was their first trip to the third round of the playoffs since 2000, their fourth trip to the playoffs in five years. The Knicks won four playoff series in the last three seasons. Before Thibodeau arrived in the 2020-21 season, the Knicks had made the playoffs four times in the last 19 seasons, winning a single playoff series since 2000.

The Knicks clearly feel they've topped out under Thibodeau, even though he led the team to consecutive 50-win seasons and an upset playoff win over the defending champion Boston Celtics. But it's risky to hire a new coach and expect the team to exceed its success under Coach Thibs.

The Chicago Bulls fired Thibodeau in 2015, also after he'd coached the team for five seasons. They reached the Eastern Conference Finals in 2010-11 behind MVP Derrick Rose. Even after Rose's torn ACL during the 2012 playoffs, Chicago made the postseason all five of Thibodeau's seasons and won four playoff series in total, even giving the Cleveland Cavaliers a scare in the second round in 2015.

What happened after that? Chicago missed the playoffs the next season under new coach Fred Hoiberg, declining from 50 to 42 wins. In 2016-17, they finished eighth with a 41-41 record, despite adding Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade, then didn't make the playoffs for four seasons. In a decade since firing Thibodeau, the Bulls have two playoff berths and have won only three playoff games.

Thibodeau took over as head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2016-17, and in his second season, they made the playoffs for the first time in 14 years, which is longer than the lifespan of an actual timber wolf. Things fell apart when the team wouldn't give Jimmy Butler a contract extension and he forced a trade, and Thibs was fired midway through the next season.

In the aftermath, Minnesota was the NBA's third-worst team in 2019-20, then went 23-49 in 2020-21. They only turned things around because they were bad enough to get Anthony Edwards with the No. 1 pick in the 2020 draft, but still declined precipitously in the post-Thibodeau era.

The Knicks may think they can do better at head coach than with Thibs, and maybe they can. But history tells us they probably won't.