Draymond Green criticizes Knicks over Tom Thibodeau firing

Draymond Green criticizes Knicks over Tom Thibodeau firing

The New York Knicks made the bold decision to fire head coach Tom Thibodeau last week, less than 72 hours after the New York Knicks were eliminated by the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Knicks hadn’t made an Eastern Conference Finals in the 25 seasons before 2024-25, as Thibodeau helped establish a gritty, no-nonsense culture in his five seasons with the Knicks.

On his podcast, the Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis, Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green attacked this news head-on–criticizing the Knicks for their thought process behind the decision.

“I think what just happened to Thibs is this – and you see it quite a bit in the NBA these days – due in part to the success that we had on that run with Cleveland and the dominance that was going on in the NBA at that time, all the conversations nowadays are just ‘Championship. Championship. Championship,'” Green said, according to NBC Sports’ Joaquin Ruiz. “And in turn, people try to ignore the process of getting to a championship.

“That sh–t is hard, and it takes time, and time is different for many people. If you’re firing Thibs because you ultimately think, ‘He ain’t the guy to get us there,’ that’s one thing. But if you’re blaming him for not winning a championship with this team, that’s not the right thing to do – because that’s not a championship roster.”

To a certain extent, I agree with Green. Winning a championship is incredibly difficult … and it takes time for everyone. However, Thibodeau, schematically, Thibodeau didn’t put the Knicks in the position to succeed. Offensively, the Knicks were heliocentric, though they went away from their best two-man game (Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns). They didn’t space the floor enough and Thibodeau ran his underperforming starting lineup into the ground.

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New York didn’t have plenty of depth, but Thibodeau didn’t maximize the roster he had in the most important moments. His failure to adjust (until it was too late) was his undoing. He’s a good coach, and the Knicks still have plenty of work to do in regards to fielding a more competitive group with more depth. But he’s not the guy for that specific job, in my humble opinion.

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