It’s Time to Fire Tom Thibodeau

Photo Courtesy of Bleacher Report

As the Knicks continue to fail to meet expectations and blow leads, it is time to part ways with head coach Tom Thibodeau.

The Knicks are currently 12-13, ninth in the Eastern Conference, and have lost four out of their last seven games. Their only wins against teams with winning records are against the Nuggets without Nikola Jokic, 76ers without Embiid and Harden, and a surprise Jazz team.

Coach Thibodeau deserves tons of credit for the great 2021 season, where the Knicks made the playoffs for the first time since 2013, and he rightfully won Coach of the Year that season. Unfortunately, since then, the Knicks have been a disaster with regressing defense, poor rotations, and failure to make in-game adjustments.

The Knicks currently have three players with $100 million contracts: Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle, and RJ Barrett. The front office clearly saw this season as a win-now season, but it looks to be the opposite. Thibodeau is not all to blame for Barrett's slow start and Randle's struggles with defense and consistency, but he continues to go through these players even when struggling and does not make adjustments to hide these weaknesses.

There have been serious questions over the rotation this season, as there are many talented players and few minutes to go around. While former starter Evan Fournier is now completely out of the rotation, there are still inconsistencies with minutes for Cam Reddish, Obi Toppin, and Quentin Grimes. It appears Grimes has officially won the starting shooting guard spot, but Reddish and Toppin have played well and not received minutes to show for it.

The latest poor performance from the team was last Saturday at home vs. a struggling Mavericks team. The Knicks jumped out to an early lead and held MVP candidate Luka Doncic in check for the first half. Then, for what seems like the 10th time this season, the Knicks took a halftime lead and were absolutely blown out in the second half, eventually losing 121-100.

Another string of poor performances could be enough to finally make the Knicks fire Thibodeau and others in the front office. Assistant coach Johnnie Bryant is 37 years old and has been with the staff since 2020. He is expected to take over as interim coach if Thibodeau were fired, and it would be the right move to see if he can turn this team around.