Tom Thibodeau just took the New York Knicks to the NBA’s Eastern Conference finals, the deepest play-off march in 25 years for a franchise that re-emerged as a contender after he became their coach.

For that, he was fired.

The Knicks made what they called a “difficult decision” to move on from Thibodeau on Tuesday, believing it was a necessary step in their chase for a championship.

“We can’t thank Tom enough for pouring his heart and soul into each and every day of being the New York Knicks head coach. He led us not only with class and professionalism for the past five seasons, but also to tremendous success on the court with four play-off berths and four play-off series victories,” team president Leon Rose said in a statement.

“Ultimately we made the decision we feel is best for our organization moving forward. Tom will always be a part of our Knicks family and we truly wish him nothing but the best.”

The Knicks were eliminated by the Indiana Pacers in Game 6 on Saturday night, falling two games short of their first NBA Finals appearance since 1999.

Axing the coach is a strange decision by the Knicks, who had been one of the league’s worst franchises for most of the 2000s until Thibodeau was hired in 2020. He led the Knicks to the play-offs in his first season, winning his second NBA Coach of the Year award, and they have been solid contenders in recent seasons. They gave Thibodeau a three-year contract extension last summer.

Their big breakthrough came in 2024-25, when they knocked off defending champions Boston in the second round to reach the conference finals for the first time since 2000, when Thibodeau was an assistant under Jeff Van Gundy.

Thibodeau faced criticisms that his hard-driving style and over-reliance on his starters wore down his players, the same ones who have followed him since the beginning of his head coaching career in Chicago. But his ways seemed to be working in New York.

The Knicks hadn’t won a play-off series since 2013, but now have done it in three straight seasons. They went 50-32 in 2023-24 and followed that with a 51-31 record this season.

Thibodeau grew up as a Knicks fan in Connecticut, before joining the organisation as an assistant coach in 1996.

He went on to help the Boston Celtics win the 2008 NBA title as an assistant, earning a reputation as one of the league’s top defensive minds, before finally getting a chance as a head coach with the Bulls in 2010-11. He went 62-20 in his first season, earning his first Coach of the Year award.

Thibodeau, who spent five seasons with the Bulls and also coached Minnesota, is 578-420 as a head coach.