The Tom Thibodeau era in New York officially ended last month after the team fired him. In turn, New York hired Mike Brown to replace Thibodeau.
Some believe that the Knicks shouldn’t have ever fired Thibodeau in the first place, with many coming to his defense especially after Brown was hired. One of those is Stan Van Gundy, a former head coach and current broadcaster, who said on the Nothing Personal with David Samson podcast that the Knicks made a ‘big mistake’ firing Thibodeau.
“That was a big mistake,” Van Gundy said. “Tom Thibodeau, one of the best coaches in this league, did an unbelievable job with that team this year. Maximized virtually everyone on their roster. I mean, OG Anunoby — best year of his career. Karl-Anthony Towns — probably the best year of his career. Jalen Brunson, a guy who was, what, a 15, 16 point-a-game scorer in Dallas, has become a star. Josh Hart went from a backup to a triple-double-type of guy in New York. He just maximized this roster and took them places they hadn’t been in a quarter of a century. And they make a coaching change? Made absolutely no sense to me.”
Thibodeau is largely credited with the Knicks’ most recent turnaround, leading New York to their best season since 2000 this past season, helping the team earn their second-consecutive 50-win season, and reach the Eastern Conference Finals. In five seasons with the Knicks, Thibodeau reached the playoffs four times and won a playoff series in each of the last three seasons.
After casting an incredibly wide net in their coaching search, the Knicks narrowed it down to a handful of candidates, eventually landing Brown. The two-time Coach of the Year was most recently the head coach of the Sacramento Kings.