Tom Thibodeau Firing Sparks Furious Debate From NBA Fans

The New York Knicks fired Tom Thibodeau despite their best season in an eternity, and the NBA community is fired up in its wake.

Tom Thibodeau Firing Sparks Furious Debate From NBA Fans

Tom Thibodeau (FS Image)

New York Knicks fans have had their best years after a long gap over the past few seasons. The team missed the playoffs for seven straight seasons before appointing Tom Thibodeau as their head coach in 2020. However, this era under Coach Thibs will now come to an end. ESPN’s NBA insider Shams Charania tweeted the news that Thibodeau had been let go by the Knicks’ front office.

Thibodeau’s period as the head coach of the New York Knicks saw a number of great advancements happening. The team went from being the laughing stock of the NBA in effort terms to becoming a rugged defensive outfit that brought the intensity night in and night out.

They rose from a forgettable 2019-20 season, which saw Julius Randle, Marcus Morris and Bobby Portis all hustle for the starter spot at the 4 position, to making the playoffs as the fourth seeds the very next year. Randle improved his offensive capabilities considerably during this time, becoming a more willing playmaker and shooting better.

After a down year in 2021-22, the Knicks landed Jalen Brunson as a restricted free agent. Brunson set about changing the outlook of the team offensively. He proved himself as the first true elite scoring talent for the Knicks since the peak of Carmelo Anthony’s era. Brunson’s offensive outlook and output has allowed the Knicks to win playoff series in each of the last three years.

However, the Knicks were criticized a lot for their two-tone offense during their Conference Finals defeat. The Indiana Pacers were clearly a deeper, more capable team that also generated better offensive opportunities and made for better viewing. Thibodeau was outcoached by Rick Carlisle, sparking rumors of his exit. This speculation was confirmed with Charania’s reporting this morning.

Shams Charania made the following report on SportsCenter after the Knicks fired Tom Thibodeau:

They had back-to-back 50+ plus win seasons for the first time since 1990. But I’m told the Knicks believe they need a new voice, someone that can take them to the next step of the organization’s future, which they hope is an NBA championship. This is a team that obviously has talent in Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby. They feel like they need another new voice, and that’s why the decision was made by Knicks owner James Dolan. Leon Rose informed Tom Thibodeau today that he has been let go as head coach.

NBA fans are divided after Tom Thibodeau is fired by the Knicks

The news of Thibodeau’s firing, while not unexpected, was certainly a rude bit of business in the eyes of a lot of fans. Many believe that Thibodeau had earned his keep after leading the Knicks to their first Conference Finals series in 25 years. The team had outperformed their regular season by a long shot. Despite finishing as the third seeds, many doubted the Knicks’ ability to win even a single playoff series.

Many fans blamed Karl-Anthony Towns and other Knicks instead of Thibodeau for their failed NBA title bid.

Some believe that the Knicks should have given Thibodeau more time to cook up a championship recipe.

A few rationalized the decision.

Neither Thibodeau nor the Knicks should have any shortage in choice of options for their next moves. Thibs is already 67 years old and may not have much of a future as a head coach. At least he can lay claim to changing modern NBA defenses during his Celtics tenure as associate head coach. The Knicks, meanwhile, will look to hire his best possible replacement. Someone who can take the Mecca of basketball to the Nirvana of championship glory.

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