Tom Thibodeau

Knicks Notes: Robinson, McBride, Brown, Anunoby

As he enters the final year of his contract, which will pay him a little under $13MM, Knicks center Mitchell Robinson says he doesn’t care if he starts or not in 2025/26, writes Kristian Winfield of The New York Daily News.

Nah. It don’t matter to me at all,” Robinson said on Thursday. “I started before. I came off the bench before. I did great in both. So it’s whatever.”

As Winfield notes, Robinson saw his role reduced after finally returning from ankle surgery last season, but then was moved back into the starting lineup for the last four games of the Eastern Conference Finals against Indiana. New head coach Mike Brown called Robinson a “monster on the glass” but said he has yet to decide if the 7’0″ big man will start or come off the bench.

Ideally, it would be great to have everybody’s role defined before the first game,” Brown said. “Now, they can change throughout the course of the season, but hopefully going into Game 1, we as coaches — and (new assistant) Billy Lange — get to a point where we have everybody’s role defined. And not only that, but they embrace it so that everybody knows specifically what they need to do.

We’ve got a lot of guys and we’re a new staff. So if we get a little behind, maybe it doesn’t happen until after the first or second game. I don’t know. But ideally, I’d like to have all that done before game one.”

Here’s more on the Knicks:

  • Robinson, who said he added muscle and lost weight over the offseason after starting an organic farm in Nashville, isn’t sure if he’ll be cleared to play back-to-backs to open the season, according to Winfield. One of the NBA’s premier offensive rebounders, Robinson added that he isn’t concerned about potentially being involved in trade rumors ahead of 2026 free agency — he will remain extension-eligible throughout the season. “I’m gonna come out here and play hard still regardless, whether it’s my last (year) or my first (year), just come out here and play hard,” Robinson said. “But at the same time I’m gonna let my agent handle that part of it. I’m just gonna play basketball.”
  • Guard Miles McBride has been floated as a possible trade candidate because New York reportedly wants to keep Malcolm Brogdon and Landry Shamet, both of whom are signed to non-guaranteed training camp deals. McBride expressed appreciation for former coach Tom Thibodeau but is looking forward to playing under Brown, tweets James L. Edwards III of The Athletic. “Honestly it was crazy. It was unexpected. All my four years were with Thibs. He did a great job with me and team,” McBride said. “… Coming in with Mike, I’m excited. … He’s been communicating with a lot of guys, allowing people to talk.”
  • Forward OG Anunoby just missed out on making the All-Defensive Second Team last season, finishing with the most votes among players who didn’t make the cut. He has loftier goals for ’25/26, as Steve Popper of Newsday writes (subscription required). “For sure, defense, that’s what wins games, championships,” Anunoby said. “So it’s very important to me. Defensive Player of the Year, first-team All-Defense, those are always my goals.” Brown praised Anunoby’s defensive work, Popper adds. “First-team All-Defense,” Brown said. “He is more than capable. Really it’s up to him. That’s how good he is on that end of the floor. He’s a first-team — and I’ve been around those guys. Bruce Bowen. Tim Duncan. I’ve been around a few of them, and he’s right there.”

Knicks Notes: Hart, Towns, Rotation, Brunson, Bridges

Knicks forward Josh Hart underwent a procedure on his right ring finger in July, but he told reporters at the team’s media day on Tuesday that he recently aggravated that finger issue and will likely have to wear a splint this season, as Steve Popper of Newsday tweets.

Hart’s hope is that the splint will suffice for 2025/26 and he’ll be able to address the injury again next summer, tweets James L. Edwards III of The Athletic. While his goal is to be available for the entire season, the 30-year-old acknowledged that if he can’t play like himself as a result of the injury, he may have to address it earlier than the 2026 offseason.

“I hate playing with anything on my hands,” Hart said (Twitter link via Edwards). “It might take a little getting used to. That’s the best scenario (playing with a finger splint).”

Here are a few more highlights from the Knicks’ media day:

  • According to Edwards (Twitter link), Knicks big man Karl-Anthony Towns said today that he didn’t undergo any procedures on his finger or knee during the offseason, contrary to a June report. For what it’s worth, the wording in that ESPN report from June has since been updated to indicate that Towns underwent “treatment” on those injuries, rather than “procedures.”
  • Asked today about the team’s lineup and rotation, new Knicks head coach Mike Brown said “it’s too early” to make a final decision on his starting five, adding that he anticipates using a nine- or 10-man rotation (Twitter links via Edwards).
  • Multiple Knicks players, including star guard Jalen Brunson, expressed appreciation for former head coach Tom Thibodeau (Twitter link via Edwards). “It’s sad to see a man I’ve known for a long time part ways with this organization,” Brunson said. “He’s meant a lot to me. I’ve expressed that to him publicly and personally. He’s meant a lot to my career.”
  • Mikal Bridges signed a four-year extension this offseason that came in about $6MM below his maximum extension. He said on Tuesday that he agreed to sign for $150MM instead of $156MM because he wants to “win bad” and knew it would help the organization if he accepted a little less. “I got a good amount of money,” Bridges said.

Knicks Notes: Position Clashes, Roster, Thibodeau, Dadiet

As the Knicks gear up for training camp, Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (subscriber link) breaks down the team’s top narratives, position battles, new players, and more.

As Bondy writes, New York currently has enough room below its hard cap to carry a single veteran camp invitee into the regular season, but they’ve signed five to training camp deals. Guards Malcolm Brogdon and Landry Shamet are the leaders in the clubhouse, but guard Garrison Mathews, center Alex Len and wing Matt Ryan all still have a shot, according to Bondy.

While All-Stars Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns and All-Defensive forwards Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby are all pretty much locked in to starting roles, Bondy posits that guard Josh Hart and big man Mitchell Robinson could both stake a claim to that fifth starting gig.

In another subscriber-only article, Bondy takes a look at the storylines facing each rostered player heading into the season.

There’s more out of New York:

  • Knicks players opted not to fight to retain head coach Tom Thibodeau despite a strong 51-31 season and an Eastern Conference Finals berth, Ian Begley said during an appearance on SiriusXM NBA Radio (Twitter link). Begley noted that Hart “was very close” with the now-former coach, and suggested that, if Hart or other key players had insisted to management that Thibodeau be retained, he may have stuck around. Hart’s shooting went cold during the playoffs and he was toggled with Robinson for New York’s fifth starting spot. The Knicks ultimately replaced Thibodeau with Mike Brown.
  • After they finished as the third seed in the East last year, Malik Smith of The New York Post (subscriber link) expects the Knicks to enjoy a more robust run in 2025/26, thanks to Achilles injuries and roster turnover knocking Boston and Indiana down a peg. As Smith observes, most sportsbooks peg the club to win in the neighborhood of 53 games next season.
  • In a reader mailbag, James L. Edwards III of The Athletic says he believes second-year wing Pacome Dadiet, a first-round pick last season, is the player most likely to be traded prior to February’s deadline. Edwards also wonders if New York could expand its rotation to 10 players and takes a look at how Brown can improve the club’s versatility, among other topics.

Knicks Emphasized Collaboration During Coaching Search

Collaboration will be a point of emphasis as Mike Brown prepares for his first season as head coach of the Knicks, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (subscription required).

Sources tell Bondy that the need to work together across the organization was stressed during the interview process after former coach Tom Thibodeau’s style was considered “too unilateral.” Brown will be expected to consult with ownership, the front office, the medical staff and player development experts, along with his assistant coaches and players, and to give serious consideration to their input.

“I had great conversations with (team owner) Mr. (James) Dolan and (president) Leon (Rose),” Brown said during his introductory press conference. “I want to form a partnership with them. It’s impossible to do this alone.” 

Bondy notes that Brown has to walk a fine line of taking suggestions from multiple parties while still showing that he’s in charge of the team, rather than a “puppet” of the front office. That challenge will begin when the team opens training camp this week.

Brown will also be tasked with upgrading the offense by replacing Thibodeau’s reliance on isolations with a style that emphasizes ball movement and pace. His players have received some exposure to the new system already, and the reaction has been positive.

“I’ve talked to (Brown) a lot, and I think the big thing is just going to be a lot of player movement,” reserve guard Miles McBride said recently. “He’s giving us the foundation, and we’re just going to work off of it. So I’m really excited to see all our creativity with each other that we’ve been working on these last couple months. Really excited to see where it takes us.” 

Brown is also expected to have less reliance on his starters than his predecessor, giving more players a chance to log significant minutes. Bondy theorizes that would have happened anyway after the offseason additions of Guerschon Yabusele, Jordan Clarkson and Malcolm Brogdon, but Brown is naturally more inclined than Thibodeau to use a larger rotation.

Bondy notes that the Knicks’ starting five easily led the NBA in combined minutes last season, but he sees the potential for a 10-man rotation under Brown.

Knicks Notes: Robinson, McBride, Brunson, Thibodeau

The Knicks took care of plenty of business this summer, extending Mikal Bridges, hiring Mike Brown, and adding Guerschon Yabusele and Jordan Clarkson in free agency. But one area the team has yet to address is the upcoming free agency of center Mitchell Robinson.

In a mailbag for The Athletic, James Edwards III discusses the Robinson conundrum for the Knicks, which revolves around both the immense value he has displayed for the team in back-to-back playoff runs, as well as the injury concerns that have limited him to just 48 games over the last two regular seasons.

Edwards’ sense is that the Knicks would be interested in a team-friendly extension, but if Robinson wants to bet on himself, that could complicate extension talks. Edwards also notes that should the center stay healthy during the first half of the season, the Knicks could consider trading him for value ahead of February’s deadline rather than risk losing him in free agency.

We have more from the Knicks:

  • One player who could see an uptick in responsibility this season is Miles McBride, writes Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. Bondy notes that Bridges struggled in his role as the primary point-of-attack defender last season and was less effective than in the past at staying in front of high-level ball-handlers, a role McBride is perfectly suited to. Having McBride take primary guard matchups would allow Bridges to slot in as a tertiary defender while not forcing Jalen Brunson into defensive matchups he would struggle with. Bondy notes that former head coach Tom Thibodeau didn’t lean very heavily on lineups that included both McBride and Brunson, likely due to size concerns, but that Brown might be more open to the idea.
  • The addition of Brown is expected to bring more balance and structure to players’ roles, Bondy writes, and to increase the pace at which the team plays. As Bondy notes, that change may impact Brunson,w ho held the ball longer than any player in the NBA last season, with an average of 6.06 seconds per touch. By comparison, Tyrese Haliburton averaged just 3.65 seconds per touch. While Brunson is undeniably elite with the ball in his hand, encouraging him to make quicker decisions, especially when it comes to finding Karl-Anthony Towns along the perimeter, could help energize the offense and introduce more unpredictability.
  • At least one prominent coach is still grappling with the Knicks’ decision to fire Thibodeau, according to Bondy, who cites recent comments by Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue. “Should he have been fired? Hell no,” Lue said on the Club Shay Shay podcast. “The players did a hell of a job. And Thibs did a hell of a job. And to take a team to their first [conference finals] in 25 years and then get fired, like, it just doesn’t make sense.” Lue also believes that the circumstances around Thibodeau’s firing and the expectations conveyed by the front office make for a difficult situation for Brown. “That’s a tough spot to be in,” he said.

New York Notes: Towns, Thibodeau, Brown, Wolf, Highsmith

Stefan Bondy of the New York Post (subscriber link) finds it curious that there hasn’t been more talk about an extension for Knicks big man Karl-Anthony Towns this summer. Towns has until October 20 to add two more years to his current deal, which runs through 2026/27 with a $61MM player option for the following season.

Bondy states that he hasn’t been able to get any information about possible extension talks. Towns’ agent didn’t respond to a text regarding the subject, and team president Leon Rose almost never communicates with the media.

Bondy expects Towns to play out the remainder of his contract, possibly including the player option, before getting a new deal. His max extension would be $150MM over two years, and even though Towns is a perennial All-Star, Bondy doesn’t view him as being worth $75MM per year as teams maneuver to stay below the second apron.

Bondy also brings up several questions the Knicks might want to have answered before they consider committing that kind of money to Towns. Can he stay healthier than he did in Minnesota, will he and Jalen Brunson develop better chemistry in the offense, can he improve his pick-and-roll defense, and does he fit better as a center or a power forward?

There’s more from New York City:

  • Knicks fans are expecting a trip to the NBA Finals this season and would consider anything less to be a disappointment, a survey taken by James L. Edwards of The Athletic reveals. More than 3,000 fans responded, and most are cautiously optimistic that New York will be the No. 1 seed in the East, but they’re split on the firing of Tom Thibodeau. A plurality of 37.7% agree with the move, while 29.6% oppose it and 32.7% are indifferent. Nearly 70% are withholding judgment on new head coach Mike Brown.
  • Danny Wolf, the last of the Nets‘ five first-round picks this year, brings a lot of versatility to the roster, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post (subscription required). He’s a big man who can orchestrate the offense and shoot from the outside, and he has the potential to see time at power forward and center. “He’s just so unique. I don’t want to compare him to certain players,” Summer League coach Steve Hetzel said. “He’s very unique because he can handle, he can play pick-and-roll … at Michigan, he was a primary ball-handler in pick-and-rolls. So he has a ton of skill and he can shoot the three.”
  • The Nets are acquiring Haywood Highsmith from Miami, but he seems to be more of a trade chip than a long-term investment, Bondy observes in another story. Brooklyn is emphasizing the development of its young players, and there might be interest around the league in the 28-year-old Highsmith, who has a $5.6MM expiring contract, once he recovers from knee surgery.

Knicks Notes: Thibodeau, Bickerstaff, Kidd, Coach Search

Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff seemingly came to the defense of now-former Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau, without explicitly naming the team or coach, writes Matt Ehalt of The New York Post.

During a conversation on ESPN Radio’s “Joe & Q” on Friday, Bickerstaff was asked about the league-wide reaction to the coaching situation in New York. The Knicks fired Thibodeau after he led to a 51-win regular season and its first Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 25 years and have since been denied permission to speak to several currently employed head coaches around the NBA.

“I don’t want to call it the cherry on top, but it’s the final straw, I think, of what has happened this season and the level of respect that we feel coaches deserve versus what they are getting,” Bickerstaff said.

“When you are a coach, you feel like there is a job that you have been told to do,” Bickerstaff added. “And when you go out and do that job well, you should carry it over to the next year. If you have had past successes, that should envision future successes. You can’t guess what the future is going to look like with somebody new.”

There’s more out of New York:

  • The Knicks received serious push-back when they attempted to talk with current Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd about their new head coaching vacancy, observes Ryan Dunleavy of The New York Post. Among the other teams New York reached out to, the team got similarly emphatic rejections, as ESPN’s Shams Charania recently detailed on The Rich Eisen Show (YouTube video link).“Out of the five rejections, some of the scenarios that I heard [were], you know, teams would just hang up,” Charania said. “They would say no—and hang up. Teams would have maybe some profanity, maybe there is some ‘F— no.'” In addition to Kidd, the Knicks reportedly also reached out to the Timberwolves, Rockets, Hawks and Bulls about poaching their current head coaches.
  • Following a stellar five-year stint under Thibodeau that turned them back into perennial threats in the East, the Knicks must nail this next head coaching hire, opines Steve Popper of Newsday (subscriber link). Popper notes that, though New York was ridiculed after being rejected in all five of its initial bids for rival coaches, sources told him that Kidd and Chicago coach Billy Donovan were still potentially in the running. Popper takes stock of some free agent candidates for the gig, including Taylor Jenkins, Mike Brown, Michael Malone, Mike Budenholzer and Frank Vogel.
  • In case you missed it, the Knicks are now seen as a long shot to acquire 15-time All-Star Suns forward Kevin Durant in a trade.

Knicks Notes: Kidd, Coaching Search, Offseason, Thibodeau

The Knicks‘ interest in reuniting with Jason Kidd, who played one season for them, this time as a head coach, has been well documented. But with Kidd under contract with the Mavericks, the likeliest pathway for New York to do so would be via trade, writes Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus.

How exactly would such a trade work? Pincus suggests a deal that would see the Knicks sending out the 2026 Wizards’ protected first-round pick as well as top-four protected swap rights to their own 2026 first-rounder. Pincus compares the proposal to the Clippers trading a 2015 first-round pick to the Celtics in order to bring Doc Rivers into the fold, as well as the Bucks trading two second-round picks to the Nets to bring Kidd to Milwaukee.

The question for New York would ultimately be, with so few tradable assets available to them, would it make sense to use two valuable resources on a coach already under contract? Of course, if Dallas stands firm on its stance that Kidd isn’t available, the discussion may be moot.

We have more notes on the Knicks:

  • While the Knicks’ 2025 offseason revolved around reshaping and finalizing their core moving forward, the 2026 offseason will see them focused on adding crucial bench depth once they address the coaching vacancy, Yossi Gozlan writes for Third Apron (Substack link). In his offseason preview, Gozlan predicts the Knicks will operate above the first tax apron but below the second in order to maximize their limited flexibility. Given their limited ability to add a higher-salary player if they don’t move a key rotation piece, Gozlan suggests targeting young wings who might face roster crunches, such as the Rockets’ Cam Whitmore or Magic’s Jett Howard.
  • The Knicks will have formal interviews next week with Taylor Jenkins and Mike Brown, two of their top head coaching candidates, reports James L. Edwards III for The Athletic. Edwards also writes that the Knicks may circle back on Kidd and Bulls’ head coach Billy Donovan, despite having their interview requests denied, confirming an ESPN report. The Knicks will also begin checking in on assistant coaches as they cast as wide a net as possible.
  • Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart reiterated their appreciation for Tom Thibodeau on the latest episode of The Roommates Show podcast, Jared Schwartz writes for The New York Post. This was the first time Brunson, who has known Thibodeau his whole life, has experienced his NBA coach being fired. “To have Thibs to do what he did for my career, I’m just so grateful and thankful for. Not enough things can be said about what he’s meant to myself, my career,” Brunson said. Hart, who has experienced six coaches in eight seasons, also expressed gratitude: “He helped make me into the player that I am. I had a lot of instability in the early part of my career, and he kind of gave me that stability and that opportunity to flourish as a player in the league, as a starter in the league. I’m always gonna be forever grateful for him.” The two teammates and friends added that Thibodeau deserves a lot of credit for the strong Knicks foundation that has been built over the last few years.
  • Former Knick Austin Rivers was less positive about his time under Thibodeau. “I’m not really a Thibs guy. I played for him, it wasn’t the best experience personally, didn’t treat me well at all,” Rivers said on a recent episode of his podcast Off Guard With Austin Rivers, via Alex Kirschenbaum of Athlon Sports. Rivers describes his first interaction with Thibodeau upon joining the team, saying, “Thibodeau comes up to me and says, ‘Hey man, excited for you to be here. I wanted Derrick [Rose], but you’ll do great…’ And he walked away.” Rivers’ grievances don’t end with the coach, though. He expressed frustration with how his trade was handled, saying, “They don’t do business the right way sometimes.”

Taylor Jenkins, Mike Brown Reportedly Among Knicks’ Coaching Candidates

The Knicks have reportedly been denied permission to speak to five head coaches currently employed by NBA teams, but their search for Tom Thibodeau‘s replacement isn’t entirely focused on candidates who already have head coaching jobs. Former Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins and former Kings coach Mike Brown are also said to be on New York’s radar.

Sam Amick of The Athletic cited league sources who say there’s an “increased Knicks focus” on Jenkins and Brown, while Stefan Bondy of The New York Post‘s list of potential candidates (subscription required), based on intel he has gathered, includes a “top contenders” tier that consists solely of Jenkins and Brown.

Jenkins, who was the head coach in Memphis from 2019-25, compiled a 250-214 (.539) record during that time and led the club to three playoff appearances — ’24/25 would have been a fourth, but he was fired with nine games left in the regular season.

Although Jenkins’ career postseason record of 9-14 is underwhelming and the Grizzlies were disappointed by his results this season, it’s worth noting that his ouster didn’t exactly jump-start this year’s team. The Grizzlies finished the regular season by going 4-5 under Tuomas Iisalo, then were swept out of the first round by Oklahoma City.

Brown, meanwhile, was dismissed by the Kings midway through the 2024/25 season after guiding the team to a 107-88 (.549) mark across two-and-a-half seasons, with one playoff appearance and one play-in exit. Brown, who also previously coached the Cavaliers and Lakers, earned Coach of the Year honors in 2009 and 2023.

As Amick observes, Brown interviewed for the Knicks’ head coaching position in 2020 before Thibodeau was hired, and league sources tell The Athletic he left a “very strong impression” on the club.

Here’s more on the Knicks and their head coaching vacancy:

  • After originally reporting that Michael Malone isn’t a candidate for the Knicks’ job, Bondy says it’s now not out of the question that the former Nuggets coach could get an interview. However, Malone remains a “long-shot” option, according to Bondy.
  • Although the Mavericks declined the Knicks’ request to speak to Jason Kidd, Bondy agrees with Newsday’s Steve Popper, who said on Wednesday that Dallas’ denial doesn’t necessarily spell the end of New York’s pursuit of Kidd. As Bondy explains, Kidd is believed to be seeking a contract extension from the Mavs — if he doesn’t get that new deal and New York is willing to offer him a long-term contract, Kidd could make things uncomfortable for his current team. Still, Bondy acknowledges there’s probably only a “small” chance of the situation playing out that way. One league source he spoke to was adamant that the Mavs won’t let Kidd go.
  • In a separate column for the Post, Bondy suggests Thibodeau’s dismissal was more about relationships than results and questions the statement put out by Leon Rose in which the Knicks’ president of basketball operations said the change was necessary because the team is “singularly focused on winning a championship.” No one in the organization, Bondy argues, was more “singularly focused on winning” than Thibodeau.

Knicks Denied Permission To Speak To Udoka, Finch, Kidd

8:30 am: The Knicks asked for the Mavericks’ permission to speak to Kidd and, as expected, were turned down by Dallas as well, according to Stein (Twitter link).

For what it’s worth, Steve Popper of Newsday (Twitter link) has heard that some people in the Knicks’ organization believe the “first no” from the Mavs doesn’t necessarily spell the end of New York’s pursuit of Kidd.


7:56 am: The Knicks formally requested permission to speak to Rockets head coach Ime Udoka and Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch, but were denied on both counts, according to reports.

Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link) first reported that the Knicks’ request to Houston had been turned down, while longtime New York radio and podcast host Mike Francesa (Twitter link) was first to say that the Timberwolves declined the Knicks’ request to speak to Finch. Shams Charania of ESPN subsequently confirmed both reports.

Marc Stein wrote last week that the Knicks had interest in Udoka but would almost certainly be rebuffed by the Rockets if they sought permission to talk to him. New York’s interest in Finch was initially reported last week by Begley.

Udoka, who was hired by the Rockets following three straight seasons of 22 or fewer wins, has helped turn things around in Houston, leading the team to a 41-41 record last season and a 52-30 mark – along with the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference – this past year. Finch, meanwhile, has guided the Timberwolves to back-to-back appearances in the Western Conference Finals.

Neither team was likely to be enthusiastic about letting the Knicks poach a successful head coach who remains under contract.

It sounds like that will likely be the case for the Mavericks as well, as multiple reports have suggested that Dallas is expected to spurn the Knicks’ advances if New York seeks permission to speak to Jason Kidd. Charania confirms as much, citing sources who say the Mavs would decline the Knicks’ request if it comes (it hadn’t as of Tuesday night).

Based on what we know, it has been an unusual coaching search so far for the Knicks, who have only really been linked to candidates who already have head coaching jobs. It remains possible the club will request permission to speak to other head coaches currently employed by NBA teams, Charania notes.

Among coaches who aren’t presently employed, Taylor Jenkins is one name that people around the league think the Knicks will consider, according to Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. Jenkins was let go by the Grizzlies prior to the end of the regular season.

The Knicks are seeking a replacement for Tom Thibodeau, who took out a full-page ad in the New York Times on Wednesday thanking the fans, his players, and his coaching staff for his experience in New York, as Steve Popper of Newsday relays (via Twitter).

“To the best city in the world with the best fans in the world: Thank you,” Thibodeau wrote. “When I was hired in 2020, I said this was my dream job. I am grateful that dreams became a reality. Thank you to our players and coaching staff who gave everything they had, and to everyone who makes this franchise special. I am proud of everything we accomplished together, including four playoff appearances and this year’s run to the Eastern Conference finals — our first in 25 years.

“And to the fans, thank you for believing in me and embracing me from day one. Watching you support our team, and seeing the Garden ignite with that incomparable Knicks energy, is something I will never forget.”