Carlisle thought Thibodeau's dismissal was a joke: "It's unbelievable"

Rick Carlisle reacted with disbelief to the firing of Tom Thibodeau by the New York Knicks, just like many others. The Indiana Pacers coach, who spoke to the media on Wednesday before the first game of the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder, admitted that at first he thought it was fake news.

The Pacers reached the Finals by precisely eliminating Thibodeau's Knicks in the Eastern Conference finals.

"When I first saw it, I thought it was one of those fake things made with artificial intelligence, you know?" said Carlisle. "It can't be. It's impossible. I also know what the players feel about him. There's not much more to say. Teams and organizations can make these decisions unilaterally. And they have the right to do so."

Thibodeau's firing adds to a surprising recent trend in the NBA. Since the end of the regular season, there have been several significant coaching dismissals. The Memphis Grizzlies fired Taylor Jenkins on March 28, when the team had a record of 44-29 with nine games remaining. Shortly after, the Denver Nuggets did the same with Michael Malone, just three games before the end of the season, despite having a 47-32 record. Malone had led the team to the NBA championship less than two years prior.

Both Jenkins and Malone, if willing to coach again, are top candidates in the postseason coaching market and could be considered by the Knicks to fill the vacancy left by Thibodeau.

The firing of the New York coach surprised many. Throughout his career, Thibodeau has faced valid criticisms, especially regarding his rotations management, but his coaching ability has rarely been questioned. This season, in fact, he achieved one of his biggest successes by leading the Knicks to their first conference final since 2000. Along the way, they eliminated the defending champions, the Boston Celtics, in a series they were dominating even before Jayson Tatum's Achilles injury.

Despite the team's structural deficiencies—especially in defense, with players like Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson—parting ways with Thibodeau does not solve those issues. Additionally, unlike Malone's case, there were no signs of discontent in the locker room. In fact, after the elimination against Indiana, Brunson was clear when asked if Thibodeau should continue leading the team. "Is that a serious question right now?" he responded on May 31. "You just asked me if I think he's the right person. Yes. Let's go."

However, the Knicks decided that Thibodeau was not the right man to achieve their goal. In their official statement, the franchise stated they are "fully focused on winning a championship for our fans," concluding that Thibodeau wasn't the coach to take them there.

Carlisle, on his part, believes his colleague will soon find a new destination. "Tom will be fine, without a doubt," he assured. "I don't think he'll have any trouble finding his next job. It all depends on when he's ready to coach again."

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Carlisle pensó que el despido de Thibodeau era una broma: "Es increíble"