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The New York Knicks, in the aftermath of their Eastern Conference Finals exit, have been busy this offseason, most notably hiring Mike Brown to be the team's new head coach to replace the recently-fired Tom Thibodeau. Thibodeau wore out his welcome in New York, although his time with the Knicks cannot be viewed as anything other than a success — with the team making it to the playoffs in four of his five years in charge.
Thibodeau could feel a bit hard done by this decision considering that he and the Knicks were only a few plays away from perhaps being the team to challenge the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals. Nonetheless, his former player, Derrick Rose, whom he coached in three different stops, said that there are 30 million reasons as to why Thibodeau “can't be mad” after he was let go from his job.
“I talked to Thibs after. He's good, man. You can't be mad when you walk away with $30 million dollars,” Rose said with a laugh during his press conference prior to the start of the NASCAR Cup Series' Grant Park 165 at Chicago Street Course on Sunday.
“You can't be too sorry for him. But he's in good spirits. That's my guy. We locked in 'til the end. But he's good. Jalen's still in New York, he's gonna be balling so everybody wins, I feel.”
"What do you think about the Knicks firing [Tom Thibodeau]?"
Derrick Rose: "I talked to Thibs… He's good… You can't be mad when you walk away with $30M… He's in good spirits."
(via @STaranto92)pic.twitter.com/C0HEc6xcAU
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) July 7, 2025
Indeed, Thibodeau had secured a three-year contract extension with the Knicks prior to the start of the 2024-25 season. So at the very least, Thibodeau will be laughing all the way to the bank, as he's still going to get paid as if he's enduring the highly stressful job of coaching under the bright lights of New York.
Former Knicks HC Tom Thibodeau's belief in Derrick Rose never wavered
It was in Rose's third season in the NBA when Thibodeau became his head coach and the Chicago Bulls blossomed from a .500 team to a powerhouse in the East. Rose became an MVP under Thibodeau's tutelage; alas, Rose tore his ACL in 2012 and never was the same player again.
Nonetheless, Thibodeau's belief in his former star man never wavered. He resuscitated his career in 2018 when Thibodeau, then with the Minnesota Timberwolves, picked up Rose in free agency after it looked as though he was washed up. And then in 2021, Thibodeau's Knicks traded for Rose from the Detroit Pistons, with Rose arguably being the best player for the Knicks during that year's playoffs.
Thibodeau is Rose's ride-or-die, and it's not hard to see why.
