After leading the Knicks to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 25 seasons, Tom Thibodeau was fired. New York will begin a coaching search while Thibodeau likely scratches his head, wondering why he was let go after having such a successful stretch with the team.
BREAKING: The New York Knicks are relieving Tom Thibodeau of his duties as head coach, sources tell ESPN. Thibodeau led the Knicks to their first East Finals in 25 years, made playoffs in 4 of 5 years and led Knicks to consecutive 50+ win seasons for first time since the 1990s. pic.twitter.com/B7w8KhoEcF
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 3, 2025
The Knicks front office had to feel pretty good about this decision. They will owe Thibodeau at least $30 million guaranteed from an extension he signed recently. The now former head coach led New York to the playoffs in four of the five years he was at the helm. Thibodeau won a playoff series in each of the last three years. The Knicks had won a playoff series only once in the two decades before he was hired.
📲 Follow The Sporting News on WhatsApp
Every coach in the league will have their own philosophy and approach to the game and how players are used. Thibodeau was known for putting a lot of pressure on his starters, without relying too much on the bench.
Here is how Thibodeau's coaching philosophy could have gotten him fired by the Knicks.
MORE THIBODEAU:
- Why Knicks fired Tom Thibodeau
- NOH: Why Knicks will regret firing Tom Thibodeau
- Top Knicks coaching candidates to replace Tom Thibodeau
- Josh Hart, Ben Stiller, more react to Thibodeau firing
- Most shocking coach firings in New York sports history
Knicks starters minutes
Thibodeau's philosophy made sense. He wanted his best players on the court as much as possible. The only problem is that his players discussed how many minutes they were playing, and there was concern it would cause them extra wear and tear down the stretch of the season.
Here is where the Knicks' starting five ranks for minutes per game in the league.*
- Mikal Bridges - 37.42 minutes per game (led NBA)
- Josh Hart - 37.25 minutes per game (4th in the NBA)
- O.G. Anunoby - 37.07 minutes per game (5th in the NBA)
- Jalen Brunson - 35.92 minutes per game (13th in the NBA)
- Karl-Anthony Towns - 35.07 minutes per game (22nd in the NBA)
*stats include regular and postseason, and players had to play at least 58 games.
Bridges actually talked about the high amount of minutes earlier in the 2024-2025 season, and said that he asked Thibodeau to lower their minutes.
"Sometimes it's not fun on the body. You'll want that as a coach but also talked to him a little bit knowing that we've got a good enough team where our bench guys can come in and we don't need to play 48 (minutes), 47.
We've got a lot of good guys on this team that can take away minutes. Which helps the defense, helps the offense, helps tired bodies being out there and giving up all these points. It helps just keeping fresh bodies out there."
However, Thibodeau said that the conversation never happened. He also expounded on his philosophy and maintained that his players don't play more than others.
"The facts are the facts: Your wings play more. So they're matched up with primary scorers. So the way it works is if Jayson Tatum is in the game and Jaylen Brown is in the game, OG will be in the game and Mikal will be in the game. Try to keep the matchups. When you look at the league, all those guys are playing 35, 36 minutes — whether it's [Kevin] Durant, Tatum or a Brown. A wing is going to play more. They're primary wing defenders. That's the way the league works."
ESPN's Shams Charania cited this as playing into the decision to fire Thibodeau. He said the Knicks front office might be looking for someone who "might trust his bench more" or "more lenient on his principles."
"The New York Knicks might be looking for a guy that trusts their bench more..
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) June 3, 2025
For better or for worse Tom Thibodeau had a way that he was gonna operate..
It leads to a lot of success but clearly the Knicks wanted a change of direction" ~ @ShamsCharania #PMSLive https://t.co/ExFIGfdoKR pic.twitter.com/Ts5TUMQCiG
Knicks bench minutes
The Knicks didn't have another player in the top 100 for minutes played. If you look at just the regular season, New York's five starters all played between 35.0 and 37.6 minutes per game.
The bench was shallow, with only two players averaging more than 20 minutes per game.
Here's a look at how many minutes the bench players averaged during the regular season with at least 35 games played.
- Miles McBridge 24.9
- Precious Achiuwa 20.5
- Landry Shamet 15.2
- Cameron Payne 15.1
- Jericho Sims 10.8
- Tyler Kolek 7.2