James Dolan's role in Knicks' Tom Thibodeau decision revealed

The decision made by the New York Knicks to fire Tom Thibodeau on June 3 sent shockwaves, and confusion throughout NBA circles. The team just had their most successful season in decades, why fire the man who spearheaded the turnaround?

As it turns out, Knicks owner James Dolan played quite a large role in the controversial decision. The Athletic’s Fred Katz revealed how the decision took shape on his Katz and Shoot podcast. 

“The day that the Knicks got eliminated…[Thibodeau] has support from Jalen Brunson and has the backing of Leon Rose. However, James Dolan is the final decision maker,” Katz said. “We had an inkling that James Dolan would want [Thibodeau] out….James Dolan sat in on exit interviews, I can tell you, I have spoken to a number of different people from a number of different organization around the league that an owner sitting in on exit meetings is not a normal regular thing.”

“There were certain players who were somewhat critical of [Thibodeau] in those meetings,” he added. “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. Those meetings happen, James Dolan leads those meetings, and all of a sudden [Thibodeau] is fired.”

Dolan has largely stayed out of the team’s way since hiring Leon Rose in 2020, but that appears to have changed now with him spearheading one of the team’s biggest decisions in its history. 

Thibodeau was amongst the most successful coaches in franchise history, earning back-to-back 50-win seasons, and reaching the playoffs four out of five seasons with the team. They have scheduled interviews with four candidates (Mike Brown, Taylor Jenkins, Micah Nori, James Borrego) for the opening so far.