New NBA Champion Salutes Former Knicks Coach

Like many in the basketball world, Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein was shocked by offseason rumblings the New York Knicks produced.

Shortly before Hartenstein and the Thunder secured the first championship of their Oklahoma City era, the Knicks bid farewell to head coach Tom Thibodeau after five seasons at the helm. A former Thibodeau protege, Hartenstein commented on the developments when he appeared on Rich Eisen's eponymous program.

"Before he came there, the Knicks weren't really winning much at all," Hartenstein noted (h/t New York Basketball on X). "I think he changed the culture. I think he did a great job building a culture. Going to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in a long, long time, I think he did a great job there."

"He changed the culture…Going to the ECF for the first time in a long time…He did a great job there. I don't know, at the end of the day the Knicks had to do what's best for them. For me…Thibs was a great coach"

–– Isaiah Hartenstein on Knicks firing Tom Thibodeau pic.twitter.com/AKthLYtK9Q
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) July 4, 2025

"At the end of the day, the Knicks are trying to do what's best for them but, for me, Thibs was great for me. He was a great coach."

Hartenstein spent two seasons under Thibodeau's watch, joining the Knicks in the summer of 2022. He established what then stood as a career-best numbers in that span, playing well enough to earn a three-year, $87 million deal from Oklahoma City, where he played a vital cog in the championship machine.

To Hartenstein's point, the Knicks were in dire straits when Thibodeau took the reigns in 2020, having won but a single playoff series since 2021.

New York reached the playoffs in all but one of Thibodeau's tours and, as the center referenced, ended its quarter-century drought of ECF showings. Along with Boston's Joe Mazzulla, Thibodeau is one of two coaches to oversee at least one NBA playoff series win in each of the last three tournaments.

All that and more, however, wasn't enough to secure a sixth season for Thibodeau, and the team is reportedly set to turn the operation over to Mike Brown.

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