NYC NOW - The Knicks Fired Their Coach… After Their Best Season in 25 Years. Now What?

Episode Date: June 7, 2025

The Knicks made the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 25 years, and then fired head coach Tom Thibodeau just days later. What happened? What’s next? And did this team just peak, or are they on the brink of something bigger? Newsday Knicks beat reporter Steve Popper joins us to break it all down. Plus, he answers a few questions from around the WNYC newsroom.

NYC now. Welcome to NYC now, your source for local news in and around New York City. From WMYC, I'm Jenae Pierre. Happy Saturday. The New York Knicks' playoff run came to a heartbreaking end with a loss to the Indiana Pacers in six games. It was their first trip to the Eastern Conference finals in 25 years and represented a huge step forward for the franchise. And yet, just a few days later, the Knicks fired head coach Tom Tibbonne. The move shocked some fans, but not everyone in the league was surprised. Now the search is on for the next head coach, and that coach will have to address some big, lingering questions. Is this team built to go the distance, and how much closer are they really to a title? Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday.

Steve, how's it going? Tiring, exhausting. And when you say people are, some people are not shocked by it, I think any of your listeners who are long-time fans, are like, oh, this is the Knicks that I know. Right on. Listen, I want to start there, actually. Where were you when you got the news about Tom, Tibodeau? If I saw you mowing my lawn, was that ambitious enough?

That's great. I've heard, and we've all heard these rumors that Tom had been in trouble for a long time. And I heard it during the Detroit series. And then I heard it during the Boston series, even when they were ahead two games to one. I had heard rumors that people in the front office were talking at that point about firing them. Yeah. But the belief was if you beat the defending champs and got further than the team had gotten in a quarter century, that you were safe at least till the first losing streak next season. But that proved not to be true. And my law is still not completely moat.

But truly, that is the headline or was the headline all week. The Knicks made the conference finals and still fired their coach. But the big question is, why now? You know, there's been some stories that have come out that I kind of am skeptical of only because I've heard these rumors for a long time now. I don't think it was the player meetings that put the nail in the coffin for Tom. I think it was, this is something that there were certain voices in the front office just didn't like the way he conducted himself. He's very much of a stubborn, wants to run the whole show kind of guy. I think there were voices in Jim Dolan's ear that were critical of him all along, and they were looking for a way to pull the trigger. and this was it.

Yeah, I do wonder the reaction inside the locker room, though. From what you've heard, how did the players take the news? I mean, we haven't heard from them. You know, I asked Jalen the question at the final press conference when they lost in game six in Indiana. And he expressed great admiration and belief in Tom. And he should. I mean, this is someone, they've had a relationship since Jalen was a little kid, you know, with his father playing and Tom is an assistant coach in New York.

Then when Tom was in Chicago, he brought. Rick in, you know, Jalen's dad and Jalen was a star in Chicago high school system at that time. They've had a relationship for solo. To me now, you've got to make sure that whoever you bring in is tied to Jalen because that's the way the franchise has been set up. And the one intriguing name is Jason Kidd who coached him in Dallas and they have a good relationship. So to me that if you're not going that way, I think you're really taking a risk.

Yeah. You know, in previous interviews, Steve, you and I have talked about how big the front office had gone heading into last season. The five first round picks for McHale Bridges, the trade for a cat, do you think those investments paid off or did they give up too much too soon? Look, I mean, the results are that you went further than you went the year before, and maybe I'm too patient, but I was a believer that the first year wasn't going to be as good as the second year. I think if you kept the pieces in place, maybe worked a little bit around the fringes of the bench and kept Tibado's system in place, I think they would have.

have been better next season. This blows it up and now you're going to have some changes and there's rumors of making moves with the roster too. It's funny because the front office ownership don't speak very often, but James Dolan went on Jalen's podcast and expressed a belief that it was a lesson learned that you can't reach for the shiny objects and you have to have patience and build a system and have stability. And that lasted. I think that interview was in March. And we are now in June, and that whole belief system has gone out the window. Yeah, yeah. But with all of that in mind and everything we've talked about so far, I mean,

the Knicks did make it farther than they've gone in decades, but they lost the same team two years in a row. Was this a successful season for the Knicks? I think so. Look, you know, 51 wins in the regular season, beating the defending champions in the second round, getting to game six of the conference finals. You know, one team holds the trophy at the end, and 29 other teams are disappointed.

And they're not the only ones that are successful and have successful coaches that are in strange circumstances. You know, the Denver Nuggets fired Mike Malone, who led them to a championship two years ago, with three games left in the season. This is sort of what these guys sign up for. They know fingers start pointing. That's the easiest place to blame. Yeah. And that's sort of what happens. So to me, I think it's a successful season.

And more important than that, probably, it's a successful five-year-old. run. They really turned around the reputation of this team. And now the goal is how do you advance from that and keep that in place where it's a place where players want to play and they want to be a part of it and join in on this. Yeah. I mean, speaking of players wanting to come here, what are the chances of the Knicks landing a big star in the offseason? I didn't think there was a great chance of it if you didn't make the coaching change. Now, I just don't know because we don't know who the coach is going to be, what kind of system they want to run, how dissatisfied the front office and ownership is with falling short like they did. You've got to decide whatever you gave up

to get McKell Bridges, to sign O'G. Ananovi to get Carl Anthony Towns, do you believe after a year that they're the pieces that are going to bring you to that level you want to be at? And if not, you know, when you're talking about guys like Janice Antedacompo is available out there, there's a belief that maybe they are all in now and looking through. They're going to investigate these at least and see if they have a match. It's very difficult with the salary cap. But I think they will be interested in these star players that are out there. Stay close. There's more after the break.

NYC. All right, Steve, we want to try something a little different. So we have a few Knicks fans here at WMYC. And they've been following this team really closely all season. And it's been really interesting to just go for a cup of coffee and end up talking about the Knicks. for 10 minutes or so. Anyway, we asked them what they'd want to know

and had them send their questions in. And first up is Yvonne Rodriguez. He's our senior manager of recruitment. And he's thinking big picture about what it really takes to build a winning culture beyond just what happens on the court. There's a lot that goes into winning a championship. It isn't just the coach. It isn't the players.

It's the front office. It's the folks that kind of push the organization forward to create the environment, the culture for a team to win the championship. What else, aside from the firing of Tom Tipitho, has to happen in order for the Knicks to build a championship-winning culture? Well, I think he's right. And it starts at the very top, at ownership.

And as I said earlier, to me, it was very interesting that James Dolan had a very hands-off, letting Leon Rose, who is very well-respected a long time as an agent before he came here to the Knicks as team president. letting him run this. And it really changed the image. When Phil Jackson was in New York as the team president, there were whispers throughout the league with agents, with players, that New York was not a place you wanted to come. That has changed. And I think we're going to find out now how much of that was Tibido, Jalen Brunson, the on-court product, and how much is, are people going to be deterred by what they see here? That ownership or front office voices

sort of won the day here and pushed out a very successful coach. I think it remains to be seen how this is going to play out. Next is Rajee Vikram. He's editor of our magazine shows and newscasts. The Knicks are in a very different place than when they first brought in Tibbs. So what's the organization looking for in a new coach? Well, the only thing I've heard is that there's a leaning in most corners of the organization for someone who has done it before.

And I think that makes sense because where you are right now, you're not a building project now. You're a team that is, by firing this coach, you've shown that you believe that they're a championship contender, that you felt that getting to the conference finals was falling short for this organization. So I think that means they want someone who can come in right away and there's not a learning curve. That takes out some of the assistants, the college coaches who've never coached at this level. Although I do, you know, I do hear some whispers that there is a belief in Johnny Bryant, Associate head coach in Cleveland. He's never been a head coach. at a level. I think there are some voices in the Knicks front office that like him and would

like to go after him. But I think the more likely thing is a coach like Jason Kidd who's been in an NBA finals who has a long playing history and not to mention has a good relationship with the honest Antecompo who he coached in Milwaukee. Then there is Christian Santana. He's a copy editor here in the WMYC Newsroom. What's the deal with Rick Brunson and his role on the team? He's asking about the influence Rick Brunson. Brunson holds inside the organization. Rick Brunson is Jalen Brunson's father. And reportedly, some players have been frustrated with how much say he has in team decisions. So what's his role

going forward? Yeah, that remains to be seen. And look, when you clear out the head coach, Rick Brunson is a very loyal Tom Tibido follower. He was out of the league and Tom brought him back in here to New York. I don't think it was overstepping his boundaries. I think he was sort of a on to it between Tibido, who could almost hit a mindfulness where he was, you couldn't talk to him during the game. And Rick was sort of that buffer there. I just don't buy some of this. Obviously, if there's a player who feels Jalen shoots 25 times a game and, you know, I'm not getting the shots. I believe, you know, think there's going to be some resentment with Rick being a powerful voice in the organization. So that's something that the next coach is going to have to navigate.

I do know Jalen liked having his father here. His father is the guy who trained him before every game. They talk about the game. But he's played and been successful without Rick on the bench. So I don't think that's sort of an end all to this. Okay, so this last one is a bit of a curveball. This one's from Emily Boutin. She's vice president of WMYC Studios.

Now, Emily's less interested in the roster and more curious about you, Steve, and your paths. What questions do you have that never get answered when you're doing a job? I mean, I really have so many more questions. I'm always curious, like, did you want to cover basketball? How did you get the beat? And did you love basketball before the beat? Well, I would say this.

With Tibido, and despite me defending him as a coach, none of my questions were ever answered to my satisfaction with Tom Timitow. You know, every question you ask him, is this guy available to play? Could be? Is this guy going to start tonight? Could? I've been considering it.

We consider everything. He held his cards very close to the best. And honestly, I went like so many people, was a journalism student and did work in different departments of a newspaper when I was an intern. What I decided, I mean, I was sports writing is something that interested me once I saw I wasn't advancing to where I was going to be playing these sports. And look, I admire everyone who has to do hard news and the difficulties there are there. But I didn't want to be knocking on the door of someone whose child was in a car accident.

Yeah. I wanted the, what we joke around is the playground of the newspaper. It brings a lot of fun and joy to people. So, yeah, I'd love doing it for a long time. And it's not as easy as people think. We're not doing hot dogs and beers at the game. We're there for hours before and hours after, and the travel is a nightmare. But it's on the whole been good.

And you're in a lot of interesting events that people would love to be at and we're kind of there on the ground of it. So it's a lot of fun. That's Newsday Nick's beat reporter, Steve Popper. Thanks so much, Steve. Anytime, glad we could do it. And thank you for listening to NYC now. See you Monday.