Detroit Pistons Coach Speaks on Knicks’ Tom Thibodeau Move

Detroit Pistons head coach JB Bickerstaff offered his thoughts on the Knicks' recent decision to fire Tom Thibodeau.

Mar 30, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Detroit Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff looks on during the first quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Many NBA fans and analysts probably would’ve agreed back in April that a Detroit Pistons playoff series victory against the New York Knicks would end the Tom Thibodeau chapter in the Big Apple.

The Knicks avoided that scenario, taking out the Pistons in six games. When the Knicks reached round two against the Boston Celtics, they were putting together another impressive run in the series even before the Celtics lost Jayson Tatum to a devastating Achilles injury.

After the Knicks punched their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in over two decades, it seemed that Thibodeau did enough to secure his job moving forward. That assumption turned out to be wrong.

The Knicks parted ways with Thibodeau on Tuesday afternoon. The following day, Pistons head coach JB Bickerstaff spoke on the move, making his respect for the now-former Knicks head coach clear.

“It's not an easy job,” Bickerstaff said on ESPN on Wednesday morning. “We have to do more...We have to overachieve in order to progress and move forward.”

“It's not an easy job. We have to do more...We have to overachieve in order to progress and move forward.”

Following the firing of Thibodeau in New York, #Pistons coach JB Bickerstaff speaks on the league’s coaching landscape. pic.twitter.com/sREgbKPkBs

— Coty M. Davis (@CotyDavis_24) June 4, 2025

"I can't speak enough about the respect he has in coaching circles about the job he is able to do,” Bickerstaff added. “You know you are in a dogfight every time you face a Thibodeau-led team, and I think he did that with the Knicks.”

New York’s front office loaded up with a top-heavy roster in 2024-2025. At the end of the year, the Knicks finished with a 51-31 record. They cracked the third seed in the Eastern Conference.

Since Thibodeau took the Knicks to the playoffs in 2023, New York went two straight seasons without a Conference Finals appearance. This year, the drought ended, but the Knicks still weren’t satisfied.

At the end of the day, the NBA realized Thibodeau did a fine job in one of the league’s toughest markets. Before he got there, the Knicks had a seven-year playoff drought. They made the playoffs in four out of five seasons under Thibodeau.

Bickerstaff found out at his last stop that coaching a team to the playoffs and finding moderate success simply isn’t good enough. If there aren’t championship results within a short period, it could spell the end of a coach’s run.

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