Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

“You don’t have a plan” – Charles Barkley Calls Out Knicks For Making Mess Out of Tim Thibodeau’s Departure

The Knicks reached out to several high-profile candidates for coaching job but all denied to appear for interview.

Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Knicks are facing tough questions on their lack of planning and sacking Thibodeau, who remains one of the successful coaches for the franchise. The Knicks made into the conference finals this year after a surprising win over the Celtics but couldn’t overcome the Pacers in pursuit of the NBA Finals. The Knicks got hard questions from the NBA Hall of Famer, Charles Barkley.

While talking before Game 3 of the NBA Finals, Barkley did not hold back. The NBA legend blasted on the Knicks for removing a successful coach without proper planning. The former ‘NBA on TNT’ presenter slammed the franchise for sacking Thibodeau without having a replacement ready.

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Charles Barkley Questions Knicks on Lack of Planning and Removing a Successful Head Coach

As per reports, the Knicks had a conversation with multiple candidates for the coaching job but no one showed interest. The franchise requested permission to speak with four different coaches but were firmly denied, sources told ESPN. They requested permission to speak to Mavericks coach Jason Kidd and Dallas gave a firm rejection. It happened when they were denied by Minnesota’s Chris Finch and Houston’s Ime Udoka. Atlanta Hawks head coach Quin Snyder was the latest name to deny the interview offer from the Knicks.

Charles Barkley discussed the Knicks story prior to the NBA Finals Game 3 and called them the stupidest damn people. He didn’t hold back and questioned on Tim Thibodeau’s sacking which was done just after the Knicks’ exit in the NBA playoffs.

“The Knicks gonna be the stupidest damn people in the world,” Charles Barkley said ahead of NBA Finals Game 3. “You don’t fire no good coach like that and don’t have a plan. Tim’s done a hell of a job, obviously something’s going on there, but you don’t have a plan? And now the three coaches turn you down, you gotta have a plan. I don’t know what the hell they’re gonna do.”

"The Knicks gonna be the stupidest damn people in the world. … You don't have a plan?"

Charles Barkley reacts to New York being denied four times to interview coaches who currently hold positions with their current teams 🗣

(via @NBATV)pic.twitter.com/6O0o1n2pTT
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) June 11, 2025

It was a surprising call from the Knicks when they fired Tim Thibodeau, who led them to a 51-31 record this season and also guided the team to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2000. Thibodeau posted a 24-23 record in the playoffs and a 226-174 record in the regular-season. In his five-year tenure, Thibodeau transformed Knicks into a title contender in the Eastern Conference.

The Knicks reached out to several high-profile candidates including Jay Wright and asked him to come out out of retirement. Later, they discussed with UConn’s Dan Hurley, but both college coaches denied the offers. The Knicks’ front office is directionless ahead of the new season. The NBA draft is also around the corner and the search operation for the new coach continues.

Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Charles Barkley

New York Knicks

Tom Thibodeau

Gulshan Sharma

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A native of Jaipur, Rajasthan, journalist, and a complete soccer and basketball fan, he found the huge interest with basketball by watching videos of Allen Iverson and Tony Parker, but fell head over heels in love with the sport during the Warriors’ championship era (2015-2018). A sports game addict since his late PS1, he’s also passionate about the Eagles, Inter Miami and the Fever. He’s fortunate to have seen all his favorite teams win championships. He also has a special love for cricket and football (soccer), where he is a fan of Royal Challengers Bangalore and Barcelona.