Tom Thibodeau's Knicks Firing Reportedly Was 'Trending In That Direction for Months'

The New York Knicks were considering firing former head coach Tom Thibodeau for "months" before he led his team to the 2025 Eastern Conference finals, according to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne.

Thibodeau's firing was announced on Tuesday, three days after the Knicks' first conference finals trip in 25 years ended with an elimination Game 6 loss to the Indiana Pacers.

The Knicks "had been trending in that direction for months" before dismissing Thibodeau, according to Shelburne.

ESPN's Tim MacMahon meanwhile described members of the Knicks' front office who wanted Thibodeau gone "a while ago" in on a Thursday appearance on the Dan Patrick Show.

"There was a pretty large faction within that front office that wanted to get him fired a while ago, and finally got its way," MacMahon said at the 2:45 mark of the interview.

Team president Leon Rose was previously given permission from owner James Dolan to fire Thibodeau ahead of the 2022-23 season, but Rose decided against it at the time, Stefan Bondy reported for the New York Post.

Bondy wrote that Thibodeau and Rose enjoyed "a strong relationship," but that executive vice president William Wesley was "never as big" of a supporter of Thibodeau.

Rose ultimately finalized the decision to fire Thibodeau "after meeting with the select group of players and coaches this week," Shelburne wrote.

One source told Shelburne that Knicks players "hadn't tuned out Thibodeau," but the Eastern Conference finals loss had caused doubt he could lead the team as far as the NBA Finals.

According to Shelburne, one particular concern was the Knicks' collapse in Game 1 of the conference finals.

The Knicks were leading the first game of the series by 14 points with fewer then three minutes left in regulation when the Pacers launched a comeback and tied the game on Tyrese Haliburton's game-tying buzzer-beater.

The Pacers ultimately won 138-135 in overtime, and the Knicks never got the chance to lead the series.

One source told Shelburne, "He got outcoached. The Game 1 collapse was insane. If they don't have that collapse, who knows what happens."

NBA insider Jake Fischer previously reported there had been "very loud noise during the first round" that Thibodeau would be at risk of losing his job if the Knicks were eliminated by the Detroit Pistons.

The Knicks may have emerged from that series, but the team's third-round loss was apparently to call into question Thibodeau's job security once more despite his work in turning around the Knicks from a league-bottom team to a perennial playoff contender in his five seasons with the franchise.