The New York Knicks fired coach Tom Thibodeau on Tuesday in its most profound playoff season in 25 years.

The decision came after the Knicks were removed from the Eastern Conference Finals by the Indiana Pacers (their long-time opponent) in six games. But it was also after New York made progress with a relatively new player core, eliminating defending champion Boston Celtics in the second round.

Thibodeau surpassed Pat Riley earlier this season to rank fourth in the victory, the first time since 1995 that it has a 50-game winning streak in a row.

"Our organization is very focused on winning championships for our fans," Team President Leon Rose said in a statement. "This pursuit led us to decide to inform Tom Thibodeau and we decided to go in another direction. We cannot thank Tom for pouring his heart and soul into every day he becomes the New York Knicks head coach every day.

“…End of the day, we made the decision of what we thought was the best organization.

Thibodeau has a long history with The Knicks, dating back to the 1990s, when he was an assistant coach for Jeff Van Gundy. Rick Brunson, one of Thibodeau's assistant coaches, played for those Knicks and often brought his son Jalen (now the team's superstar) to practice and play.

Jalen Brunson was asked about Thibodeau's work after the club's season in Indiana.

"Is it a real question now? You just asked me if I believe he is the right person? Yes. Come on."

Despite losing to the club in the regular season, the Knicks lost the Celtics’ trouble, with three of which appearing at double-digit hits – despite a major overhaul.

The team's front desk sent five first-round picks to the Brooklyn Wing Mikal Bridges before handing over Julius Randle and Donte Divincenzo to Minnesota for all-NBA center Karl-Anthony Towns in Minnesota. The swap deal lowered the Knicks’ depth a little, but one of the most talented starting shots in the association.

So Thibodeau - known for his big start time, even though the league has made more rest in this load management era, he relies on his five games, much more than any other five in the NBA.

New York is the third head coach in the NBA. Prior to the Knicks, he coached the Chicago Bulls (2010-15) and the Minnesota Timberwolves (2016-19).

According to ESPN Research, his professional coach's career rate is .579, the highest rate for any coach who has no finals in NBA history (the coach has at least 300 games).