Rick Pitino explains why Knicks took huge risk firing Tom Thibodeau

Rick Pitino has revived college basketball in New York as head coach of the St. John's Red Storm. He's created a ton of buzz around the Johnnies and as long as he keeps recruiting and hitting the portal at a high level, St. John's should be a consistent March Madness contender under his watchful eye.

But could another team in New York benefit from Pitino's experience and coaching acumen? Namely the New York Knicks, who just fired Tom Thibodeau despite the fact that he took the team to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2000. 

Pitino did actually have a stint as the head coach of the Knicks from 1987-89, but he recently revealed that he has no intention of returning to that post.

Pitino was recently asked about his interest in coaching the Knicks while on a broadcast of a game between the New York Yankees and Cleveland Guardians.

"Absolutely not," he said, per ESPN.

One would imagine he's pretty happy at St. John's, but Pitino also suggested that the way the Knicks catapulted Thibodeau is extremely unappealing.

"I think whoever comes in, if he doesn't get to the Finals, it's going to be deemed an unsuccessful season," Pitino said. "So, whoever comes in has got so much pressure on them to take this team to the next level, 'cause that's why they're doing it, obviously, in their minds."

The desire to reach greater heights and actually compete for titles is a noble one, but Pitino has explained exactly the risk the Knicks took when they decided to jettison a coach that just led them to their best season in ages.

If what Thibodeau did wasn't good enough, what, outside of winning a title, would be? How long of a leash would the next coach be on? What if they don't even make the Eastern Conference fFnals next season? Would they be fired?

Thibodeau is known as one of the better coaches in the NBA and he went 226-174 in five seasons. The past two seasons were 50-plus win campaigns for the Knicks were two wins away from the NBA Finals.

How an organization treats a coach can impact the interest said organization receives on the job hunting market, and the Knicks may find that out the hard way this offseason.

At the very least, we know Pitino wants no part of the Knicks, and he may not be the only big name who feels that way.