NEW YORK (AP) — Tom Thibodeau's firing brought back some of the confusion and chaos the New York Knicks had seemingly left behind.
After an era of stability and more success than they had enjoyed in a quarter of a century, the Knicks opened a coaching search few could have predicted when they fired Thibodeau on Tuesday.
“When I first saw it, I thought it was one of those fake AI things. No way. There’s no way possible,” Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said.
Coaching searches weren't unusual in New York for much of the 2000s, but the Knicks weren't winning then. This time, they had just reached the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in 25 years before losing to Carlisle's team, and were an early favorite to do it again next year. So changing course brought swift and strong reaction from a fan base that seemed satisfied.
Who decided Thibodeau had to go? And why?
“That seemed like an unfortunate call that the boss made, certainly for him,” tennis Hall of Famer John McEnroe, a Knicks fan, said while calling the French Open quarterfinals for TNT.
But which boss?
Direct answers may not come. Knicks leadership, from owner James Dolan to team president Leon Rose, doesn't do interviews with the reporters who cover the team. So the only hint may have come in the team's statement announcing the firing, in which Rose said the organization was “singularly focused on winning a championship for our fans.”
That means the view was that Thibodeau was good enough to get the Knicks close but not all the way.
Rose was friends with Thibodeau long before hiring him in 2020 and giving him a three-year contract extension last summer. So immediate speculation was that Dolan, who at times has been viewed as meddlesome and unpopular with his team's fans, must have ordered the ouster. But a person with knowledge of the decision, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because details were to remain private, said Rose made the call with Dolan's approval.
Rose conducted a thorough search five years ago, even though Thibodeau had been viewed as a favorite because of his relationship both to Rose and the organization as an assistant to Jeff Van Gundy in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Van Gundy has returned to coaching as an assistant with the Clippers, if the Knicks wanted to gauge interest in a reunion. Michael Malone, who led Denver to the 2023 NBA title, is another former Knicks assistant who is available, as is Johnnie Bryant, who was beaten out Wednesday by Jordan Ott for Phoenix's head coaching position.
Rick Pitino, Dan Hurley and John Calipari are all big names with ties to the New York area if Rose wanted to go the college route, and the retired Jay Wright coached current Knicks players Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges on national championship teams at Villanova. Brunson's father, Rick, was an assistant on Thibodeau's staff, if Rose wanted to promote the team captain's father.
Pitino, at Yankee Stadium to throw out the first pitch Wednesday, said “only time tells with those" if the Knicks made a mistake firing Thibodeau.
“I feel bad for Thibs because I think he captured all of New York, built something very, very special," said Pitino, who also coached the Knicks. "A lot of us don’t comprehend what happened but Thibs is going to be well taken care of and he’ll move on to other pastures.”
The Knicks had 12 coaches between the time Van Gundy resigned early in the 2001-02 season and Thibodeau's hiring, and they won just one playoff series. Thibodeau won four in the last three seasons.
McEnroe thought that earned Thibodeau another year, a common reaction to his firing. The Knicks decided otherwise, sending Rose into a search with much higher consequences than last time.
Back then, on the heels of seven straight losing seasons, he just needed a coach who could win some games. Now he needs one who can deliver a championship.
“I mean, I’m not really in that situation, but the thing I can say is Thibs did a lot for New York," said Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein, who played in New York last season. “He did a lot just building that culture over there. So I think I have a lot of respect for him.”
AP Sports Writer Cliff Brunt in Oklahoma City and freelance writer Larry Fleisher in New York contributed to this report.
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New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau yells onto the court during the first half of Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals of the NBA basketball playoffs against the Indiana Pacers in Indianapolis, Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau talks with players during a break in play against the Indiana Pacers during the first quarter of Game 5 of the NBA basketball Eastern Conference final, Thursday, May 29, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.
Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.
Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”
Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”
He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”
Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.
In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.
The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.
Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.
In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)
