Tom Thibodeau Holds No Grudge Against Mike Brown’s Knicks — But the Front Office? Different Story

When the New York Knicks won their first NBA championship in over 50 years last June, the celebration was loud, long, and impossible to ignore. But for Tom Thibodeau — the man who had coached the Knicks for five seasons before being fired — watching from the outside was a complicated experience.

According to former Knicks forward Taj Gibson, who spoke with SiriusXM NBA Radio, Thibodeau has no bitterness toward Mike Brown, the coach who replaced him and led New York to the title. But the same can’t be said for how Thibodeau feels about the front office that let him go.

“He didn’t have any kind of malice in his heart. He didn’t have any kind of hatred. He was so happy for the guys. He was just really so proud of the guys and what they accomplished,” Gibson said, relaying a recent conversation with his former coach.

The Athletic’s Ian O’Connor first reported last fall that Thibodeau was “deeply wounded” and felt a “sense of betrayal” after his firing in 2025. A friend of Thibodeau’s confirmed this week that while the coach is genuinely thrilled for the players who finally broke the franchise’s championship drought, he still feels wronged by the decision-makers who made it seem like he was the problem.

“Tom is still hurt that the decision-makers made it appear he needed to be replaced,” the friend told The Athletic.

Thibodeau’s résumé in New York is hard to ignore. Hired in 2020, he led the Knicks to four playoff appearances, four postseason series wins, and the team’s first Eastern Conference Finals trip in 25 years. But after a disappointing second-round exit in 2025, ownership decided to move in a different direction — a move that looked questionable until Mike Brown walked through the door.

Brown — who had been fired by the Sacramento Kings under similarly controversial circumstances — took over and immediately delivered 53 regular-season wins, followed by a dominant 16-3 playoff run that ended with a 4-1 Finals victory over the San Antonio Spurs. The speed of the turnaround only amplified the scrutiny on Thibodeau’s ouster.

Thibodeau did not respond to The Athletic’s request for comment. But Gibson’s account paints a picture of a coach who separates his feelings about the players from his feelings about the front office. The former is all pride. The latter? A wound that still hasn’t fully healed.