GREENBURGH, N.Y. — Jalen Brunson admitted it was hard for him to see Tom Thibodeau, whom he’s known since childhood, depart the New York Knicks.
Brunson spoke publicly for the first time since the Knicks fired Thibodeau in June, ending his five-year coaching tenure punctuated by New York’s first appearance in the Eastern Conference finals since 2000.
“I think obviously it’s sad to see a man I’ve known for a long time part ways with this organization,” Brunson said Tuesday at the Knicks’ season-opening media day. “But he’s meant a lot to me. I’ve expressed that to him, publicly and personally. He’s meant a lot to my career up to this point.”
Brunson’s relationship with Thibodeau goes back to childhood, as his father, Rick, has both served as an assistant coach on Thibodeau’s coaching staffs with the Knicks and Minnesota Timberwolves. Rick Brunson also played under Thibodeau when he was an assistant coach with both the Knicks and Houston Rockets.
After coming to the Knicks as a free agent three years ago, Brunson has morphed into one of the league’s best players, making back-to-back All-Star and All-NBA teams while leading New York to playoff wins in three consecutive seasons for the first time in a generation, including last year conference finals run.
All of that, though, wasn’t enough to save Thibodeau’s job, as he was fired shortly after the Knicks lost in six games to the Indiana Pacers on the cusp of the NBA Finals.
Brunson, 29, averaged 26.4 points per game in his three seasons under Thibodeau and was named the NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year last season. After New York’s season-ending Game 6 loss in Indiana, he was asked about Thibodeau being the right coach for the job moving forward.
“Is that a real question right now? You just asked me if I believe he’s the right guy,” Brunson said at the time. “Yes. Come on.”
Brunson, like the rest of the Knicks, now is taking an optimistic stance about what working with new coach Mike Brown will be like.
It also marks the second straight year that the Knicks will enter the season having made significant changes after playoff success. New York traded for Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges last summer.
“Yeah, well, for me, it’s my job to go out there and just find a way to help this team win,” Brunson said. “There’s different people in this organization with different jobs and different things they have to do to make this team better. And that’s their point of view. For me, I have to come in and do my job to the best of my abilities.”
While he didn’t have the lifelong relationship with Thibodeau that Brunson has, Josh Hart also quickly forged a strong one with the coach during their season-and-a-half working together. Hart enjoyed the best season of his career last season under Thibodeau with the Knicks, averaging career-highs in rebounds (9.6), assists (5.9) and steals (1.5).
Hart also said he would miss Thibodeau’s presence around the franchise, but that he was optimistic about the future working with Brown.
“Obviously, I love Thibs,” Hart said. “I’m always gonna have love for Thibs for the things that he helped me with and putting me in a position to get paid. So I always got love for him. Hope he’s doing well right now.
“But obviously, we have Mike and we’re extremely excited about what he brings to the table offensively and defensively. Obviously, there’s gonna be a little bit of a feeling out process, but we’re excited. We’re excited for what this team has, what this team can be.”
