Tom Thibodeau’s failure to adapt to modern times ultimately caused the New York Knicks to fire him.
After decades of mediocre, the New York Knicks finally broke the cycle when they reached the 2025 Eastern Conference Finals.
Of course, players are credited with their postseason run, but so are manager Tom Thibodeau. However, after a 4-2 loss in the ECF, the Knicks didn’t wait to fire Thibodeau.
Many criticized Tivs, the coach, for making too much assertions about his way, but they didn’t expect the Knicks to fire anyone who returned to relevance.
But former NBA veteran Jeff Teague believes the Knicks have made the right decision.
Over the past five seasons, the Knicks have reached the playoffs four times under Coach Thibodeau. It also included the Knicks ending the drought in the 25-year conference final.
Nevertheless, Teague argues that Coach Tibbs could not adapt to the modern era, as the Knicks need a “young coach.”
“They just want a younger coach. He’s not adapting to the times. Mann. Tibbs is cool. He’s one of my favourite coaches.
“But he’s just not adapting to the times. Everyone sees how these young coaches play,” he added.
Teague further strengthened his points by citing the example of Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle.
“Rick Carlisle is an older coach, but he plays them a younger style, and we can say he can listen to Lloyd Pierce and all of his assistants. We can see that he has some influence on how Rick plays and how he coaches.
Simply put, Teague called out Thibodeau for not listening to the assistant coaching staff as he enters the offseason without a head coaching job.
Currently, the Knicks have an incredible roster featuring Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby and more.
But remember, in modern times, cap space restrictions such as the second apron make teams’ championship windows shorter than ever.
With that in mind, Teague further added that it was either a Thibodeau or the Knicks star, as the organization chose the latter.
“Tib is like a one-man band. He did almost everything, did all the scouts, had no one control over the offense, it was a boring style of play, and they got all the players they scored,” Teague continued.
The 2021 NBA champion said, “We could try something different and paid all this money (for the players).
With Coach Thibodeau gone, many interesting names have been proposed as new coaches for the Knicks. It will be interesting to see who has won the job of coaching an iconic team.
