The Knicks’ decision to part ways with Tom Thibodeau remains a questionable move in the minds of their fans. The Knicks’ fanbase strongly believes that the head coach, who built a solid team and took them to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in multiple decades, should not have been fired at the end of last season.
Stephen A. Smith addressed this decision recently and explained that it was not due to a single factor but a combination of reasons. But among them, Smith believes that Mikal Bridges sounding alarm bells on Tom Thibodeau was the biggest red flag at the time and should have been an indication for Thibodeau to fix his methods.
“I’m not blaming anybody. I understand how this goes on both sides. But Tibs, rigid, tough, hard, never stop, blah, blah, blah. When a guy like Mikal Bridges, who’s an Iron Man, doesn’t miss games at all, looks at you and says, ‘Yo, we need a break.’ That’s a bad sign because you’re not giving them a break,” said Stephen A. Smith on the ‘Joe and Jada’ podcast.
“He never asked for one. Phoenix, Brooklyn, now the Knicks. He never asked for one in his career. That’s not him. He prides himself, and he’s known for playing not all the games, but practically all the games. So when he said that about Tibs, you got the feeling stuff wasn’t right.”
Mikal Bridges has made a reputation for himself for being the most consistent at being available to suit up every night. He has the longest active streak in the NBA for consecutive games played, and the count is currently at 573 (556 until the end of last season and 17 games played so far this season).
Bridges has impressively not missed a single game since he was drafted. In those 573 games, he averaged 14.8 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.8 assists over eight seasons. But in March of last season, Bridges reportedly asked Tom Thibodeau (who refused this ever happened) to give more minutes to bench players during games and said the physical toll of playing extended minutes is putting unnecessary pressure on the starters.
When a man who prides himself on not needing a break asks for a break, you know something is wrong. And Smith also attributed Tom Thibodeau’s firing to a brewing lack of trust among players about their head coach.
“Come playoff time. Tibs hurt himself when KAT got gimpy, and you took him out, and then you saw cats stepping in there, finding a way to give you quality minutes. And what you ask yourself was where the f**k were they? How come you didn’t see them during the season?” said Smith, explaining how the sudden usage of role players in the Playoffs led to brewing doubts in the locker room.
“If you see them during the season, you’ve got a better chemistry, a better rhythm, better. You know what I’m saying? They might play even better, which is what you were doing.”
“You know Worldwide Wes, you know Leon Rose, you know that’s what they wanted,” said Smith to Fat Joe on his podcast. “They got these cats on the squad for a reason. They want you to play them. You didn’t play them. So that’s problematic…. Why’s he gone? Cause you weren’t feeling them as players,” said Stephen A. Smith before criticizing the current situation of the Knicks.
Thus, Smith believes Tom Thibodeau pushed the Knicks players too hard, which eventually led to him being fired. His record with the Knicks is 226-174 (.564 winning percentage) in the regular season and 250-197 (.511) including the Playoffs.
Contrary to Stephen A. Smith’s beliefs, I feel Mike Brown has been a solid replacement for the Knicks so far, as they had an 11-6 start to the season. The Knicks are currently the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference.
But in the minds of some perfectionist Knicks fans, anything short of the No. 1 seed is a bad start, and thus they should have stuck with Thibodeau to build on his successes. They fail to realize that the Knicks still have the core elements needed to retain the winning culture that Thibodeau worked so hard to contribute towards building.
One of the signs of successfully creating a well-oiled machine is that it runs even when you’re not around. Nobody is taking away anything from Thibodeau’s successes and contributions to the culture, but they simply feel he may have pushed some boundaries too hard, which eventually came back on him.
