Stephen A. Smith didn’t hold back after the New York Knicks fired Tom Thibodeau on Tuesday.
The ESPN commentator ripped Knicks president Leon Rose for acting like a “coward” and putting out a “weak-ass statement” after parting with the coach that led them to their first Eastern Conference finals appearance since 2000.
“To be quite honest with you, I think we all as New Yorkers should find Leon Rose’s statement offensive,” Smith said on ESPN. “Get the hell in front of a microphone and a camera and answer questions. Stop being a coward.”
The Knicks announced on Tuesday that they had fired Thibodeau less than a week after the franchise fell to the Indiana Pacers in Game 6 of the conference finals. Thibodeau led the Knicks to the playoffs in four of his five seasons with the franchise, and is coming off back-to-back 50-win seasons.
Perhaps most importantly, Thibodeau brought the Knicks back to prominence in the NBA. The team hadn’t been to the playoffs in seven years before he landed in Manhattan.
Rose said in his statement that the decision to fire Thibodeau was what was “best for our organization.”
“Our organization is singularly focused on winning a championship for our fans,” Rose said, in part. “This pursuit led us to the difficult decision to inform Tom Thibodeau that we’ve decided to move in another direction.”
While Smith’s comments came in the immediate aftermath of the decision, his issue is that Rose very rarely speaks to reporters about the moves he’s making with the franchise.
“This is the problem with the arrogance of the New York Knicks, OK? They deserve credit for what they have achieved,” Smith said. “I applaud them for lifting us from basketball purgatory into relevance … but in the same breath when you make the potpourri of decisions that you have made, can you have the decency to stand before the media and answer the questions? … That statement is as weak as it gets.”
Smith isn’t alone in his criticism, either. Plenty of others in the Knicks world had similar thoughts.
The Knicks will now start their search for a new head coach. While there are plenty of questions about the Knicks’ moves now, and those aren’t going away anytime soon, Smith doesn’t expect anything to change.
Rose’s statement, which is likely all he’s going to get, wasn’t good enough.
“I don’t care about that damn statement,” Smith said. “I want to see Leon Rose stand before the camera and justify firing a man that just took you within two games of a berth to the NBA finals right after you decided to trade five picks for a guy that never even made an All-Star … Stand before the media and answer them damn questions.”
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