Rick Carlisle reacted to the New York Knicks’ decision to fire head coach Tom Thibodeau like a lot of us.
He didn’t believe it at first.
The Indiana Pacers head coach addressed media on Wednesday, a day before he’ll lead his team into Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Pacers advanced to the Finals by defeating Thibodeau’s Knicks in the Eastern Conference finals.
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Carlisle was asked on Wednesday about his thoughts on Thibodeau’s dismissal that the Knicks announced on Tuesday.
“When I first saw it, I thought it was one of those fake AI things, you know,” Carlisle said. “No way. It’s no way possible. I know how the players feel about him too.
“There’s not much else to say. Teams and ownership can make these decisions unilaterally. And it’s their right to do that.”
Another shocking NBA coaching dismissal
New York’s dismissal of Thibodeau was the third stunning firing of an NBA head coach since late in the regular season.
The Memphis Grizzlies fired Taylor Jenkins on March 28 with nine games remaining in the regular season and the team sitting at 15 games above .500 at 44-29. The Denver Nuggets then fired Michael Malone with three games left in the regular season as the Nuggets were also 15 games above .500 at 47-32. Malone was less than two years removed from coaching the Nuggets to an NBA championship at the time of his dismissal.
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Assuming that both are ready to take on another head-coaching role, they’re both projected as top candidates on the offseason coaching market and could be considered for the newly vacated Knicks role.
New York’s dismissal of Tom Thibodeau caught a lot of people off guard. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Were the Knicks right to fire Thibodeau?
Which brings us back to Thibodeau. Throughout his career, Thibodeau has been the subject of legitimate criticism, primarily around how he runs his rotations. But his overall coaching acumen is rarely questioned.
And he’s coming off one of the greatest coaching successes of his career in leading the Knicks to the conference finals for the franchise’s first appearance since 2000. The Knicks got there by beating the reigning champion Boston Celtics in the second round in a series that they were in full control of even prior to Jayson Tatum’s Achilles injury.
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There are flaws with this Knicks team and the way it’s constructed, most notably around the defensive shortcomings of All-Stars Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson. Firing Thibodeau isn’t going to fix them.
And unlike with Michael Malone, there was little sign of locker room dissent in New York. Brunson scoffed at a question following New York’s loss to Indiana about whether or not Thibodeau was the right man to keep coaching the Knicks.
“Is that a real question right now?” Brunson said on May 31. “You just asked me if I believe if he’s the right guy. Yes. Come on.”
But the Knicks determined that Thibodeau was, in fact, not the right guy for the job. In their statement announcing Thibodeau’s dismissal, the Knicks stated that they are “singularly focused on winning a championship for our fans.” They concluded that Thibodeau would not get them to the goal.
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Carlisle believes that Thibodeau will be the right guy for another job whenever Thibodeau is ready.
“Tom will certainly be fine,” Carlisle said. “I don’t think he’s gonna have any problem finding his next job. It’s just gonna depend on when he’s ready to jump back in again.”
