The New York Knicks’ brain trust made a personnel decision many in the locker room weren’t ready for: firing Tom Thibodeau after reaching Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals this past June.
On Tuesday, several players spoke to a media scrum about it at length for the very first time. Chief among them was Jalen Brunson, whose career has transformed from being considered a questionable overpay when he first signed to a multi-time All-Star in the Big Apple under Thibodeau.
Brunson admitted he was “sad” to see Thibodeau go.
“It's sad to see a man I've known for a long time part ways with this organization,” Brunson said.
“But he's meant a lot to me. I've expressed that to him publicly and personally.
“Yeah, he's meant a lot to my career up to this point.”
Thibodeau essentially built his offense around Brunson since the floor general’s arrival, empowering him to back down opposing guards and hit his signature fadeaways, and having his centers set seal screens for the former Villanova Wildcat to get him open looks.
It worked. Brunson averaged 26 points and 7.3 assists on a 49/38/82 shooting slash over the last three seasons. No player stands to lose more than Brunson with the team's new head coach, Mike Brown, and his more balanced offense.
Not everyone was completely doom and gloom about the Thibodeau-for-Brown coaching swap. Brunson’s collegiate and pro teammate, Josh Hart, is happy about Brown’s arrival.
Hart also admitted sadness about Thibodeau’s forced exit, though.
“Yeah, obviously, I love Thibs. I'm always going to have love for Thibs for the things that he helped me with and putting me in a position to be successful, to be paid. So always got love for him, and I hope he's doing well right now. But obviously we have Mike, and we're extremely excited about what he brings to the table offensively and defensively. And obviously there's going to be a little bit of a feeling out process,” Hart said.
“But we're excited. We're excited with what this team has, what this team can be. But now it's about gelling.”
Passing the torch at the top leadership position on the team is never easy for a group like New York that’s been together for several years as part of deep playoff runs. Brunson and Hart will need to lead the effort, regardless of how sad the changes make them.