Tom Thibodeau was fired as Knicks head coach a year ago to the day of the team’s Game 1 win in the NBA Finals.
But he’s thrilled his former team was able to finish the job against the Spurs, according to ex-Knicks center Taj Gibson.
Gibson, who has spent the majority of his NBA career coached by Thibodeau, revealed that the two-time NBA Coach of the Year has “no malice” toward the Knicks’ success.
“I talked to Thibs (Saturday) and the first thing we talked about was that he had no malice in his heart, he didn’t have any kind of hatred,” Gibson said during a Sunday appearance on SiriusXM’s NBA Radio.
“He was so happy for the guys, he was just really proud of the guys for what they accomplished.”
Thibodeau, 68, was hired as the 31st head coach in Knicks history in July 2020 and oversaw the organization’s rise from laughingstock to perennial contender.
New York reached the postseason in four of Thibodeau’s five seasons at the helm, including a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2025. However, shortly after falling to the Pacers in a memorable six-game series, the Knicks shockingly parted ways with Thibodeau.
“The team is really built on the shoulders of Tom Thibodeau. He built that core,” Knicks owner James Dolan said during an interview with WFAN in January. “We went as far as we did last year. So you really got to take your hat off to Tom, and the job that he did. But we did come to the conclusion that we had an idea how we wanted to organize the team. And that meant we needed to evolve. Actually beyond the old traditional coaching formulas.
“And we tried to work that with Tom. It really wasn’t his thing.”
The Knicks replaced Thibodeau with Mike Brown, who led the Knicks to the organization’s first NBA championship since 1973.
“[Thibodeau] said he’s so happy that everything is going right for them,” Gibson said.
“He was like, ‘Man, that’s how it goes. You may have some good things going for you, may have some things that don’t go right for you, but I’m just proud of the guys.’”
Few players in the league can speak to Thibodeau’s mindset better than the Brooklyn-born Gibson, who has been coached by him in 10 of his 17 NBA seasons, including during stints with the Bulls and Timberwolves.
Gibson started 56 games for the Knicks in 2019, and once Thibodeau became head coach, his affinity for keeping the veteran on the roster was evident as he kept re-signing with the team on a series of 10-day contracts.
While Thibodeau was not around to celebrate the end of New York’s 53-year championship drought, Gibson insists the longtime coach’s ties to the Knicks remain forever solidified.
“I was like, ‘Man, that’s just love,’” Gibson said. “To have that humility and just knowing that you trained these players and have put so much into them, and to know that they finally made that final leap to really take the top and go to the championship of New York City.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
