The New York Knicks shocked the NBA world on Tuesday by firing coach Tom Thibodeau. The decision comes just days after the Knicks' longest playoff run in decades came to an end; New York lost to the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals in six games.

Shortly after the news broke, the organization released a statement from team president Leon Rose explaining the decision. The primary reason was quite simple: the Knicks are "singularly focused" on winning a championship, and they found moving on from Thibodeau to be in pursuit of that goal.

The statement did not sit well with at least one hoops analyst. Stephen A. Smith, a passionate and open Knicks fan during ESPN broadcasts, appeared on NBA Today to opine on his team moving on from Thibodeau. In the process, he slammed Rose and declared he was acting like a "coward" for releasing a statement instead of participating in a press conference to answer the many questions New York fans have about the decision.

"To be quite honest with you, I think we all as New Yorkers should find Leon Rose's statement offensive," Smith said. "Get the hell in front of a microphone and a camera and answer questions. Stop being a coward! Because that's how he's acting. I'm not calling him that as a man or as a person. I'm saying that's how he's been acting as president of the New York Knicks when it comes to communicating with the media and articulating the decisions you make and why they are being made."

Rose is infamous for his lack of press conferences and under his stewardship the Knicks have become one of the very few teams in the league to not hold media availability after season's end. It's been a consistent trait of Rose's regime since it began in 2020.

Clearly Smith has grown frustrated with that tendency and didn't hold back after today's big news.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Stephen A. Smith Says Knicks President Is Acting Like a 'Coward' After Thibodeau Firing.

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