James Dolan explains why Tom Thibodeau no longer fit his Knicks NBA Finals-or-bust expectations

DETROIT — In his first media interview about the Knicks in almost three years, James Dolan explained he fired Tom Thibodeau because, among other reasons, the coach was averse to collaboration. The owner also shot down a potential trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo and declared this season as Finals or failure.

“We want to get to the Finals. And we should win the Finals,” Dolan said Monday in an interview with WFAN’s Craig Carton. “This is sports and anything can happen. But getting to the Finals, we absolutely got to do.”

If that lofty goal is realized, it’ll be without the coach who Dolan acknowledged established the foundation — Thibodeau — and who was also surprisingly dismissed in the summer with three years and over $30 million remaining on his contract.

“The team is really built on the shoulders of Tom Thibodeau. He built that core,” Dolan said. “We went as far as we did last year. So you really got to take your hat off to Tom. And the job that he did. But we did come to the conclusion that we had an idea how we wanted to organize the team. And that meant we needed to evolve. Actually beyond the old traditional coaching formulas.

“And we tried to work that with Tom. It really wasn’t his thing.”

Dolan suggested Thibodeau wasn’t prioritizing player development, despite young players — Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, Quentin Grimes — thriving in a previous Knicks incarnation.