The New York Knicks parted ways with coach Tom Thibodeau shortly after losing to the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference in six games. Thibodeau has been instrumental in the Knicks’ resurgence as a winning team, appearing in the playoffs in four of the five seasons he coached the team.
With the firing, many questions were raised. One of them involved Karl-Anthony Towns, whom an anonymous NBA executive accused of being the reason why Thibodeau got fired.
According to a report by Ashish Mathur of Hoops Wire, the NBA executive shared his thoughts on Towns’ alleged involvement.
•
“Who was on the Timberwolves when Thibs got fired in 2019? Who is KAT’s former agent (Leon Rose, who is now the president of the Knicks),” the exec said.
“I wouldn’t be surprised at all if KAT told Leon and (James) Dolan during his exit interview that he didn’t want to play for Thibs anymore.”
Thibodeau’s firing was reportedly a decision from team president Leon Rose and owner Jim Dolan.
Towns played for Thibodeau when he was still with the Minnesota Timberwolves from 2016 to 2019. After his firing, he was hired by the Knicks in 2020, starting a five-year stint that was punctuated by a conference final appearance, the franchise’s first in 25 years.
When the Knicks traded Julius Randle to Minnesota for Towns, the seven-foot center again had Tom Thibodeau as his coach.
With Towns this season, the Knicks finished as the third seed in the regular season with a 51-31 record before dethroning the defending NBA champions, the Boston Celtics, in a stunning six-game series in the second round.
In this year’s playoffs, Towns averaged 21.4 points and 11.6 rebounds on 35.1 percent shooting from the three-point line.
Karl-Anthony Towns posts heartwarming photo of Tom Thibodeau after Knicks’ firing
Despite the rumors around Towns’ involvement in Tom Thibodeau’s departure from the team, the Knicks center posted a heartwarming photo of his former coach on his Instagram story on June 4 to pay tribute.
Without putting any caption in the photo, the IG story showed both of them smiling during practice while sitting side by side.
The Knicks are expected to search for a replacement for Tom Thibodeau in the coming weeks as they aim to build on their breakthrough East Finals appearance this season.
The team is also seen to continue building their roster around their core of Towns, Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, and OG Anunoby.
alt=”Rob Andrew Lo” height=”72″ width=”72″>
Edited by Ruth John S
