Knicks fire Tom Thibodeau as coach after five seasons - ESPN

Fresh off their deepest playoff run in 25 years, the New York Knicks fired coach Tom Thibodeau on Tuesday

The decision comes three days after the Knicks were ousted from the Eastern Conference finals in six games by the Indiana Pacers, their longtime rivals. But it also comes after New York advanced further than expected with a relatively new core of players, knocking out the defending champion Boston Celtics in the second round.

Thibodeau, who surpassed Pat Riley earlier this season to rank fourth on the franchise list in victories, led the Knicks to back-to-back 50-win seasons for the first time since 1995. He'd been, by far, the club's most successful coach over the past two-plus decades and signed a three-year extension with the team just last summer.

«Our organization is singularly focused on winning a championship for our fans,» team president Leon Rose said in a statement. «This pursuit led us to the decision to inform Tom Thibodeau that we've decided to move in another direction. We can't thank Tom enough for pouring his heart and soul into each and every day of being the New York Knicks head coach.

»… Ultimately, we made the decision we feel is best for our organization moving forward. Tom will always be part of our Knicks family and we truly wish him nothing but the best in the future."

Thibodeau had a lengthy history with the Knicks, dating back to the 1990s, when he was an assistant coach under Jeff Van Gundy. Rick Brunson, one of Thibodeau's assistant coaches, played for those Knick teams and often brought his son, Jalen — now the franchise's superstar — to practices and games.

Per Elias, teams have changed their head coach after making the conference/division finals or NBA Finals the previous season more