Knicks owner James Dolan’s role in Tom Thibodeau’s firing explained: ‘Not a normal, regular thing’

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Player input sounded alarms within the New York Knicks‘ organization leading to Tom Thibodeau’s firing. It was owner James Dolan who made the final call to move on from a coach who led the team to the conference finals for the first time in 25 years. According to The Athletic’s Fred Katz, Dolan played a larger role than most owners with an abrupt coaching decision.

“The day that the Knicks got eliminated, James Edwards and I came out with that story that we had alignment that (Thibodeau) has support from Jalen Brunson and has the backing of Leon Rose, however, James Dolan is the final decision maker on these sorts of decisions,” Katz said on Friday’s episode of the Katz and Shoot podcast. “And there were some people who aggregated that and said we were reporting that Thibs was safe. No, we weren’t. We were reporting if it were up to Rose and Brunson, Thibs was safe, but it’s not up to Rose and Brunson. There was a final decision-maker, who was leaving it linger. We had an inkling that James Dolan would want (Thibodeau) out. We didn’t know for sure, so we couldn’t report that James Dolan wants to fire Thibs, but we had an inkling.

“Then, Vinnie Goodwill (Yahoo Sports) comes out with an accurate report about what happens during end-of-season meetings. James Dolan sat in on exit interviews, I can tell you, I have spoken to a number of people from a number of different organizations around the league — an owner sitting in on exit interviews is … it raised eyebrows. It’s not a normal, regular thing. That’s not a routine thing. It wasn’t something that happened with the Knicks until this time around.”

Previously, ESPN reported New York’s front office pulled the plug over usage concerns with Brunson and Thibodeau’s failure to make schematic adjustments down the stretch. It did not help that Thibodeau was reluctant to go to his bench throughout the season and had several starters near the top of the league in minutes played.

Discussions from players centered around the overall failure to get the most out of a talented roster led to Thibodeau’s demise according to Katz, who pointed to Dolan as the hammer.

“There were certain players who were somewhat critical of (Thibodeau) during those meetings,” Katz said. “I don’t know if those players brought that up completely on their own, or — if because James Dolan was taking the lead — that there may have been some leading questions in those meetings. But I know those meetings happen, James Dolan leads those meetings, and all of a sudden (Thibodeau) is fired.”

The only public comments made from Thibodeau since the personnel move was a thank you to Knicks fans as the centerpiece of a full-page ad in the New York Times.

“To the best city in the world with the best fans in the world: Thank you,” Thibodeau wrote in part. “When I was hired in 2020, I said this was my dream job. I am grateful that dream became a reality. Thank you to our players and coaching staff who gave everything they had, and to everyone who makes this franchise special. I am proud of everything we accomplished together, including four playoff appearances and this year’s run to the Eastern Conference finals — our first in 25 years.”

Katz said there were a number of people in New York’s front office that were “caught by surprise” with Dolan’s decision. He said there were coaches on Thibodeau’s staff who were “paranoid” about losing their jobs down the stretch and after the Knicks lost in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals to the Indiana Pacers.

The Knicks reportedly interviewed four coaches for Thibodeau’s vacancy, the latest being Pelicans assistant James Borrego. 

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