CNN
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The New York Knicks fired Tom Thibodeau as head coach of the organization a few days after being eliminated from the playoffs at the hands of the Indiana Pacers.
After years of struggling near the NBA basement, Thibodeau led the team for five seasons, bringing the Knicks back to prominence. The franchise went to the playoffs for four of its five seasons on the bench, but was hoping to compete in the NBA Finals this year.
“Our organization is focused on winning a fan championship,” team president Leon Rose said in a statement posted Tuesday.
“This pursuit led us to a difficult decision that informed Tom Thibodeau that he had decided to move in another direction. We cannot fully appreciate his heart and soul pouring his daily life into the New York Knicks head coach.”
Rose added: “We have achieved great success on the court over the past five seasons, not only class and professionalism, but also four playoff berths and four playoff series victories. Ultimately, we decided that the organization was the best to move forward.
ESPN’s Shamscheria was the first to report on Thibodeau’s firing.
Thibodeau won the 226-174 during his 400 games in charge of the Knicks and won the 2020-21 NBA Coach of the Year Award during his first season at the helm.
Known as one of the league’s toughest coaches, Thibodeau helped turn the Knicks franchise allergic to success into a playoff mainstay throughout much of the 21st century. After a string of offseason moves, the Knicks were expected to compete for this year’s championship, and it seemed possible they could do so after rolling their rival Boston Celtics in six games in the second round of the playoffs.
However, the Pacers had Knicks numbers throughout the Eastern Conference Finals. After the Knicks went through an epic collapse on the home court in Game 1, the Pacers overcame a 14-point deficit in just two minutes to tie the game together, and ultimately the Indianapolis youth, pressure defense and speed were far too much.
Thibodeau tried many different personnel combinations and strategies to counter Pacers, but as the Knicks did when they reached the conference finals, the Pacers sent New York home in a thud game six-splitting victory.
In response to a post about Chirnia’s Thibodeau’s firing, Knicks shooting guard Josh Hart wrote, “Thank you forever!”
The Knicks hope to repeat the feat that was pulled out by the Detroit Pistons more than 20 years ago. The Pistons fired head coach Rick Carlisle after going to the Eastern Conference Finals in the 2002-03 season to hire Larry Brown. The Brown-led Pistons won the NBA Finals in 2003-04 in five games for the Los Angeles Lakers.
This story has been updated with additional information.