Former New York Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau took out a full-page advertisement in The New York Times on Wednesday, thanking his players, coaches and the team’s fans a little more than a week after being fired by the club.
The black-and-white ad, which features a photo of Thibodeau standing on the sideline at Madison Square Garden looking down at his clipboard, begins, “To the best city in the world with the best fans in the world: Thank you.”
In the advertisement, which marks his first public sentiment since being fired, Thibodeau reiterated that coaching the Knicks, whom he cheered for as a child, was his dream job. He’d been an assistant with the club during the 1990s under Jeff Van Gundy, but was hired for the top job back in 2020 by team president Leon Rose.
“And to the fans, thank you for believing in me and embracing me from day one. Watching you support our team, and seeing the Garden ignite with that incomparable Knicks energy, is something I will never forget,” he wrote.
Under Thibodeau, 67, the fourth-winningest coach in franchise history, New York notched back-to-back 50-win seasons for the first time since the 1993-94 and 1994-95 campaigns. The third-seed Knicks surprisingly knocked off the defending champion Boston Celtics in the conference semifinals this postseason, but then lost to rival Indiana in their first conference finals appearance in 25 years.
In the club’s statement announcing Thibodeau’s firing, Rose opened by writing, “Our organization is singularly focused on winning a championship for our fans.”
The Knicks are in the midst of replacing him. They were reportedly informed by former Villanova coach Jay Wright — who won collegiate national titles with current Knick stars Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart — that he wouldn’t be interested in the position. They were rebuffed by the Houston Rockets and Minnesota Timberwolves after requesting permission to speak to coaches Ime Udoka and Chris Finch, respectively, about the opening.
The Knicks also requested permission Wednesday morning to speak to Mavericks coach Jason Kidd, and Dallas gave them a firm rejection, sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania.
