The Knicks’ best season in 25 years wasn’t enough to save their coach’s job. 

On Tuesday, the Knicks announced they had fired Tom Thibodeau.

The stunning move comes days after the Knicks were eliminated by the Pacers in the franchise’s first appearance in the Eastern Conference finals since 2000.

Thibodeau was the NBA’s fourth-longest tenured coach, having been hired in July 2020, and its oldest at 67 years old. 

He led the Knicks to four playoff appearances in five seasons, winning four playoff series. The Knicks’ 51 wins this season were the most since the team won 54 games in the 2012–13 season, when Carmelo Anthony was the franchise player. He was named Coach of the Year in 2021. 

Thibodeau was the first coach hired under agent turned team president Leon Rose, who joined the franchise in 2020.

ESPN reported Tuesday that the firing came from both Rose and owner James Dolan.

Under Rose, the Knicks signed Jalen Brunson and acquired Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges, his former teammates at Villanova, before trading for Karl-Anthony Towns during training camp. The team upset the defending champion Celtics in the conference semifinals before falling to Indiana in a series that featured multiple blown leads. 

Rose has been widely perceived as being able to operate without meddling from Dolan. In March, Dolan told Hart and Brunson on their podcast that he was not being as impulsive as he had been in the past.

“There were times when I sort of reached for that shiny sparkly object,” Dolan said. “‘Maybe this is what we need,’ especially when things were not going well. Let’s bring in this guy and maybe he’ll turn it all around for us. Sometimes it’s a player, sometimes it’s a coach, etc., and what I’ve learned over time is that doesn’t work. It really doesn’t.”

In July 2024, Thibodeau signed a three-year contract extension that would keep him on the sidelines through the 2027–28 season. The Knicks still owe Thibodeau $30 million off his recently signed extension, according to SNY. 

His firing comes during a season in which multiple playoff teams fired their longtime coaches, including Michael Malone (Nuggets) and Taylor Jenkins (Grizzlies). Either could potentially be a candidate to fill the lead seat in New York.

Thibodeau helped lead the franchise to its best playoff run since the Patrick Ewing era, for which he was an assistant coach. The current Knicks are deep on family ties, as Rick Brunson, Jalen’s father, played for Thibodeau on those teams.

In July 2024, Brunson gave the Knicks a hometown discount on his contract extension by leaving $100 million on the table to give the franchise cap flexibility in the coming seasons. The franchise currently has the NBA’s fourth-highest 2025–26 payroll ($199.8 million), while Towns and Bridges will be eligible for lucrative extensions this summer. In light of Jayson Tatum’s torn Achilles, the Knicks are able to return their entire roster next season and have another shot at a wide-open Eastern Conference. But the Knicks’ continuity won’t extend to the sidelines as they’re now looking for their seventh head coach in the last 10 years. 

This developing news story has been updated.

The NBA on TNT went out on a high note.

Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals between the Pacers and Knicks, the last NBA game on TNT, drew 8.12 million viewers Saturday, the most-watched game of the 2025 NBA playoffs so far. The previous high was 7.35 million for Game 4 of the first-round series between the Timberwolves and Lakers on ABC.

The entire six-game series averaged 7 million viewers, up 10% from last year’s series (Celtics vs. Pacers, a four-game sweep). The final TNT episode of Inside the NBA drew 3.5 million viewers, a two-year high for the iconic studio show.

The NBA Finals will air on ABC. The league’s 11-year, $77 billion media-rights deal with ESPN, NBC, and Amazon Prime Video will start next season. 

Will the NBA Finals Deliver? 

This year’s NBA playoffs as a whole are averaging 4.5 million viewers, up 3% from last year and the same percentage increase the league had after the second round. The growth comes despite the five-game Western Conference finals series between the T-Wolves and Thunder averaging 5.59 million viewers, down 17% from last year. The series was filled with blowouts as four of the five games were decided by 15 points or more, and three by more than 25 points.

With two small-market teams, the NBA Finals are expected to draw lower ratings even compared to the below-average 11.3 million viewers from last year’s Finals. It doesn’t help that the Thunder are overwhelming favorites to win (-750 on FanDuel).

While MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has yet to deliver huge TV audiences, he is the most-watched player across NBA Social this postseason. Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton is third.

While the NFL’s Bears, MLB’s White Sox, and NWSL’s Stars have struggled for years to finalize deals for new stadiums, Chicago’s MLS team has swooped in and passed its neighbors.

The Fire have unveiled a plan to build a $650 million soccer-specific stadium at The 78, an undeveloped parcel on Chicago’s South Loop, near downtown, that also has been considered by the White Sox. Targeted to open in 2028, the planned 22,000-seat facility ends a long period of instability for the Fire in which it has played over the years at Soldier Field, SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, Ill., and Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium in Naperville, Ill., never fully fitting in at any of those disparate venues. 

“A world-class city like ours deserves a world-class club—with a world-class home to match,” Fire owner and chairman Joe Mansueto wrote in an open letter to the city of Chicago. “This project is more than just a stadium. It’s a space for fans of all ages, backgrounds, and neighborhoods to come together and celebrate the beautiful game—right in the heart of our city.”

The soccer stadium is intended to anchor a larger, mixed-use development at the site, in turn resembling in some ways the Wrigleyville area around the Cubs’ Wrigley Field on the city’s north side. Mansueto, estimated to be worth $6.6 billion, is the founder of the financial services firm Morningstar, and he also owns the Mansueto Ventures media company that publishes Fast Company and Inc.

“Joe Mansueto isn’t just building a soccer stadium. He’s reshaping the future of soccer in Chicago,” MLS commissioner Don Garber said in a social media post. “This is one of the most ambitious stadium projects in MLS history, and a powerful reflection of Joe’s extraordinary commitment. I toured the site recently, and there’s no doubt that this will be a transformative moment for the club and a landmark for Chicago sports.” 

A Different Approach 

Notably, Mansueto plans to fund the project privately, a fundamental divergence from the proposals from the Bears and White Sox, which each call for billions in public funding and infrastructure support. 

The Fire announcement arrives as the Bears have made some limited progress on a potential domed stadium in suburban Arlington Heights, Ill., while the White Sox effort to build a ballpark at The 78 has stalled amid the lack of support among state lawmakers to help fund it. A 62-acre parcel owned by developer Related Midwest, The 78 has long been seen as one of Chicago’s best untapped properties. 

“If the community is supportive, the Chicago Fire would be an excellent anchor tenant for The 78 site,” said Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson. 

The White Sox, meanwhile, said they “remain confident” the site could potentially house both teams, and that the club continues to discuss options with Related Midwest about The 78.

While the Fire is making a significant move off the field, the club’s on-field struggles continue. The Fire have reached the MLS playoffs just once since 2013, and are 11th in the Eastern Conference so far this season.