Months later, New York Knicks owner James Dolan shed some light on the organization’s decision to part ways with Tom Thibodeau after he led the team to the Eastern Conference finals last season.
The decision to move on from Thibodeau was met with surprise by many, but ultimately the coach’s notoriously stubborn style resulted in the team deciding to go in a different direction.
"I won't say you can't win a title with Tom Thibodeau, I don't think that's true, but if you want to build a long-term, competitive, compete for the … you need somebody who's more of a collaborator than Tom was," Dolan said during an appearance on The Carton Show, via CBS Sports.
“… He would probably tell you that he's stubborn, but he'd also tell you that he's right."
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Dolan wasn’t completely critical when it comes to Thibodeau. He gave the coach credit for building the Knicks into a contender and voiced support for him landing a gig elsewhere.
“But still, you really, Tom is still a great coach. He should coach again in the NBA,” Dolan said. “If I had a franchise I was just starting with, he would be a gold mine to get.
"He was like that for us when we first started and he first came in, he brought discipline. He brought strategy. He brought us all that way but we really felt we needed to make a change to go the rest of the way.”
Pleasantries aside, the Knicks clearly felt like moving on from Thibodeau was in the best interest of the team. Time will tell if the decision was a wise one, but things have worked out well for the Knicks under new head coach Mike Brown so far this season.
The Knicks currently sit second in the standings in the Eastern Conference with a top-five rated offense and they won the third-annual NBA Cup last month. There's obviously a long way to go, but Dolan's decision to move on from Thibodeau would certainly be vindicated if the Knicks were able to win a title this year.