Tom Thibodeau Says Knicks Betrayed Him

Tom Thibodeau was fired as Knicks head coach in June and — despite a 226-174 five-season run and a 51-31 campaign that reached the Eastern Conference Finals — he felt betrayed by people in the organization. Ian O’Connor reports a source saying "he also had a sense of betrayal" when those he helped "weren't with you...or didn't fight for you," and that leadership believed "In their world, the players were 51-0 and Tom was 0-31." Merlin sees this as a shift in the clubhouse narrative more than a simple personnel move. Leon Rose and Jalen Brunson apparently stopped "stepping in front of the bus," owner James Dolan’s presence changed dynamics, and Mike Brown inherits a deeper, favored roster. The question now: will new coaching voice convert talent into a Finals trip?