Knicks fire coach Tom Thibodeau after first Eastern Conference finals berth in 25 years
For that, he was fired.
The Knicks made what they called a 'difficult decision' to move on from Thibodeau on Tuesday, believing it was a necessary step in their chase for a championship.
'We can't thank Tom enough for pouring his heart and soul into each and every day of being the New York Knicks head coach. He led us not only with class and professionalism for the past five seasons, but also to tremendous success on the court with four playoff berths and four playoff series victories,' team president Leon Rose said in a statement.
'Ultimately we made the decision we feel is best for our organization moving forward. Tom will always be a part of our Knicks family and we truly wish him nothing but the best in the future.'
The Knicks were eliminated by the Indiana Pacers with a loss in Game 6 on Saturday night, falling two games short of their first NBA Finals appearance since 1999. Thibodeau was then asked what the Knicks needed to do this summer to go further.
'Like you would do after every season, you take a step back, I think decompress,' Thibodeau said. 'You do a deep dive on the team and then you analyze what you think you need to improve upon.'
The Knicks decided it was the coach.
The move was made by Rose with approval from owner Jim Dolan, according to a person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because that detail was not included in the announcement. The firing was first reported by ESPN.
It's a strange decision by the Knicks, who had been one of the league's worst franchises for most of the 2000s until Thibodeau was hired in 2020. He promptly led the Knicks to the playoffs in his first season, winning his second NBA Coach of the Year award, and they have been a solid contender in the East in recent seasons. They gave Thibodeau a three-year contract extension last summer.
Their big breakthrough came in 2024-25, when they knocked off defending champion Boston in the second round to reach the conference finals for the first time since 2000 — when Thibodeau was an assistant under Jeff Van Gundy.
After they were eliminated Saturday, captain Jalen Brunson expressed his support for Thibodeau, bristling at a question about whether he believed the coach was right for the team.
'Is that a real question right now?' Brunson said. 'You just asked me if I believe that he's the right guy? Yes. Come on.'
Three days later, Thibodeau was gone despite a 226-174 record in New York. He has the fourth-most wins by a Knicks coach.
Thibodeau faced criticisms that his hard-driving style and overreliance on his starters wore down his players, the same ones that have followed him since the beginning of his head coaching career in Chicago. But his ways seemed to be working in New York.
And even among the celebrities that filled Madison Square Garden, Thibodeau's gruff style was a natural fit for fans who longed for the defense-driven success of the 1990s.
'I am a Tom Thibodeau fan. He brought this team back,' actor Ben Stiller, who watched the postseason run from his courtside seat, wrote on X. 'I felt he gave every bit of himself and was always looking to improve. I will always be grateful for how far he brought the Knicks. They are relevant again. They are championship contenders again. The Knicks became winners again with him.'
The Knicks hadn't won a playoff series since 2013 but now have done it in three straight seasons. They went 50-32 in 2023-24 and followed that with a 51-31 record this season, having loaded up in the offseason by trading for All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges.
But the person said the organization felt there was a need for a new voice when the Knicks try again to end their lengthy championship drought. They won their second and last title in 1973.
Thibodeau is well aware of their history, having grown up as a Knicks fan in Connecticut before joining the organization as an assistant coach in 1996.
He went on to help the Boston Celtics win the 2008 NBA title as an assistant, earning a reputation as one of the league's top defensive minds, before finally getting a chance as a head coach with the Bulls in 2010-11. He went 62-20 in his first season, earning his first Coach of the Year award.
Thibodeau, who spent five seasons with the Bulls and also coached Minnesota, is 578-420 as a head coach.
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The Independent
29 minutes ago
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The Independent
29 minutes ago
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There are many illegal marijuana farms, but federal agents targeted California's biggest legal one
There are thousands of illegal marijuana farms around the country. But when the federal government decided to stage one of its largest raids since President Donald Trump took office in January, it picked the biggest legal grower in California. Nearly two weeks later, the reason for the federal raid at two Glass House farm sites northwest of Los Angeles remains unclear and has prompted speculation. Some say the raid was intended to send a chilling message to immigrants in the U.S. illegally — but also to rattle the state's legal cannabis industry. Meanwhile, the Republican Trump administration has been feuding with heavily Democratic California over funding for everything from high-speed rail construction to wildfire relief, so it's also possible Glass House was pulled into a broader conflict between the White House and Sacramento. 'There are plenty of other places they can go to find illegal workers,' said political consultant Adam Spiker, who advises cannabis companies. 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Company officials did not respond to calls or emails. In a brief statement on the social platform X, Glass House said it complied with immigration and naturalization warrants and 'has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors.' Some believe the raid was aimed at the legal marijuana market After the raid, United Farm Workers — the country's biggest farm worker union — posted an urgent message to its social media accounts warning that because marijuana is illegal under federal law, workers who are not U.S. citizens should avoid jobs in the cannabis industry, including state-licensed facilities. 'We know this is unfair,' it said, 'but we encourage you to protect yourself and your family.' Industry experts point to unwelcome publicity the company received after rival Catalyst Cannabis Co. filed a 2023 lawsuit alleging that Glass House 'has become one of the largest, if not the largest, black marketers of cannabis in the state of California.' The lawsuit, formally filed by Catalyst parent 562 Discount Med Inc., was dismissed last year but the headlines might have drawn the interest of federal investigators. Who runs the Glass House farm sites? The company was co-founded by Kyle Kazan, a former Southern California police officer and special education teacher turned cannabis investor, and Graham Farrar, a Santa Barbara tech entrepreneur. Glass House started growing cannabis in a greenhouse in Carpinteria in Santa Barbara County when once-thriving cut flower operations were being reduced. It later bought property in Camarillo in neighboring Ventura County for $93 million that had six greenhouses and was being used to grow tomatoes and cucumbers. To date, two of the greenhouses have been converted to grow cannabis. Workers' relatives said tomatoes are still being grown in other greenhouses at the location. How did Glass House do it? The raids have put the spotlight on a company that is alternately admired and reviled because of its meteoric rise in the nation's largest legal market. Glass House is the state's biggest legal cultivator, dwarfing its nearest rivals. Glass House Farms is part of the broader company Glass House Brands, which has other businesses that make cannabis products. 'There is no farmer in California that can compete with them at scale,' Sacramento-based cannabis consultant Sam Rodriguez said. Many legal operators have struggled despite the passage of Proposition 64 in 2016 — which was seen as a watershed moment in the push to legitimize and tax California's multibillion-dollar marijuana industry. In 2018, when retail outlets could open, California became the world's largest legal marketplace. But operators faced heavy taxes, seven-figure start-up costs and for many consumers, the tax-free illegal market remained a better deal. But as other companies folded, Glass House took off, fueling envy and suspicion by rivals over its boom at a time when much of the state's legal market was in crisis, in large part because of competition from the robust underground market. In a recent call with investors, Kazan said company revenue in the first quarter hit $45 million — up 49% over the same period last year. He said he remained hopeful for a federal shift that would end marijuana's classification as a Schedule I drug, alongside heroin and LSD. But 'we are a company that does not require federal legalization for survival,' Kazan said. Glass House's sales grew as many others around the state declined. 'I remain steadfast in the belief that it is not if but when the cannabis industry becomes America's next massive normalized industry, and I'm excited to participate along with investors in the corresponding reward that that change will bring,' he said.
