Knicks fire Tom Thibodeau despite deepest playoff run in 25 years 

It took the New York Knicks front office just three days to decide that a change was necessary

after their Eastern Conference Finals loss to the Indiana Pacers. Head coach Tom Thibodeau was fired Tuesday after five seasons at the helm

The move was a surprise to many NBA players, fans, and media members

mostly because it comes on the heels of the Knicks' deepest playoff run in 25 years

which included knocking out the defending champion Boston Celtics. When asked after the series-ending Game 6 loss to the Pacers

if he had the team to win a title, Thibodeau sounded like a coach who believed he'd be in charge next season

Leon and his staff, there's a lot of talk that always goes on

and they yze whether something makes sense and can improve our team

But we're not just going to do something to do something. It has to make sense, and we have to feel that it does improve the team

Thibodeau led the Knicks to back-to-back 50-win seasons for the first time in 30 years

and he's been by far the club's most successful coach since that time

He signed a three-year extension with the team just last summer and is still owed $20 million in guaranteed money

Superstar guard Jalen Brunson, whose father played with the Knicks when Thibodeau was an assistant under Jeff Van Gundy

was asked if he thought Tibbs was the guy to lead them He responded is that a serious question Yes No one sees the type of people that we have the workers that we have

That's what gives me the confidence. And I'm okay with that. I don't really care what people, what they think about us on the outside

I know what we got. Other players like Josh Hart felt there was a good chance the team wasn't going to be back in its entirety next season

I feel like this team is good enough to make the next step

But, you know, it's a business. And, you know, when you don't get to where you feel like you should have or could have, changes are made

Thibodeau, who had previous stops as a head coach in Chicago and Minnesota, has long been known as a defensive guru

But the Knicks had too many lapses against the Pacers. He's also known for playing his starters big minutes

Just ask Bulls fans about star guard Derrick Rose. Thibodeau played the Knicks' starting five more minutes than any other starting group in the league

Back in March, Mikael Bridges had a disagreement with his coach through the media regarding the minutes the starters were playing

Did his team just run out of gas? The 67-year-old led the Knicks to the postseason four times in his five seasons and improved every year he was in charge

For Straight Arrow News, I'm Chris Francis