Karl-Anthony Towns, the 'culprit' behind Tom Thibodeau's firing at the Knicks

Tom Thibodeau was fired yesterday by the New York Knicks despite his team eliminating last year's champion, the Boston Celtics, finishing third in the regular season in the East, and making its first Conference Finals in 25 years.

Tom Thibodeau has been dismissed after the team's star, Jalen Brunson, publicly backed him immediately following the elimination against the Indiana Pacers.

Yes. And the truth is that the dismissal, although unfair considering the coach's great work, is logical. The Knicks made a tremendous effort last summer to build a lineup capable of winning the NBA. They did so by giving up a lot in exchange for Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns, and things haven't gone wrong, but perhaps not as expected.

Leon Rose, the team's president, the one in charge of sports management, has gone all-in over the last two seasons by adding the 2 aforementioned players plus OG Anunoby. Previously, he did the same with Brunson. This, along with Thibodeau's work, has transformed the franchise from irrelevant to a strong contender in the playoffs over the last two years.

But it has also left no room for maneuver now: if they want the championship, they will have to do it with this lineup, with these players. Unfortunately, they have a problem: with Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns on the court at the same time (which happens for many minutes every game), the team struggles on defense because both are very deficient in that area. They can't afford to bench them too much because they are the two best offensive players and the team falls short without them playing.

We are logically talking about the high stages of the playoffs. We know the team performs well in the regular season. We know they can beat the Detroit Pistons based on talent even if they play worse. But here is where Thibodeau's problem arises: he is a very rigid coach, excelling in one aspect but unable to adapt to the players he has. This makes it difficult to envision a different version of the Knicks next year, so it is likely they would also fall in the semis or Conference Finals against more complete teams.

The only solution for Rose to try something different, not guaranteeing success but guaranteeing a different attempt, was to dismiss the coach who brought them close to glory because they cannot change the roster.

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Karl-Anthony Towns, el "culpable" del despido de Tom Thibodeau en los Knicks