NEW YORK — Jalen Brunson made his stance crystal clear.

Moments after the New York Knicks were eliminated in the Eastern Conference finals, Brunson was asked if he believed Tom Thibodeau was the right coach to lead the team moving forward.

“Is that a real question right now?” Brunson said. “You just asked me if I believe [Thibodeau] is the right guy. Yes. Come on.”

But the Knicks saw things differently.

Thibodeau’s firing on Tuesday sent shockwaves through the NBA. The ousting ended one of the most successful head coaching tenures in the history of the Knicks, who transformed from cellar-dwellers to perennial playoff participants under his five years of leadership.

“Forever grateful,” Josh Hart wrote Tuesday on social media.

Here is a breakdown by the numbers of Thibodeau’s time with the Knicks:

— 226: Thibodeau’s 226 regular-season wins (against 174 losses) are the fourth most by a Knicks head coach, behind only Red Holzman’s 613, Joe Lapchick’s 326 and Jeff Van Gundy’s 248. Thibodeau moved ahead of Pat Riley (223) this season.

— .565: Thibodeau’s regular-season winning percentage as the Knicks’ head coach ranks sixth in franchise history — and a few ticks ahead of Holzman’s .559.

— 4: The Knicks made the playoffs in four of Thibodeau’s five years, including his first at the helm, as well as each of the last three.

— 7: That’s how many consecutive seasons the Knicks missed the playoffs before Thibodeau’s arrival. They had a .330 winning percentage during that stretch.

— 50: This was the Knicks’ second season in a row with at least 50 wins. They had not reached that milestone in consecutive seasons since the mid-1990s.

— 51: The Knicks’ 51 wins this season marked their most since 2012-13.

— 25: This year’s trip to the Eastern Conference finals was the Knicks’ first since 2000 — a drought of 25 years.

— 3: The Knicks won at least one playoff series in each of the last three years. They won only one playoff series in the 20 seasons before Thibodeau’s arrival.

— 21: That’s how many games the Knicks won, compared to 45 losses, in their final season before hiring Thibodeau. That season was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They went 17-65 in the year before that.

— 41: Thibodeau went 41-31 in his first year as the Knicks’ head coach, which was also reduced due to COVID.

— 24: Thibodeau won 24 playoff games (against 23 losses) with the Knicks, good for the fifth most by a head coach in franchise history. It’s worth noting the NBA playoffs expanded to four rounds in 1984, and that the first round became a best-of-seven series in 2003.

— 7: Thibodeau spent seven years as a Knicks assistant from 1996-2003, mostly working under Van Gundy, and later Don Chaney.

— .579: Thibodeau’s win percentage in 13 seasons as the head coach of the Chicago Bulls, Minnesota Timberwolves and Knicks is the highest for a coach (minimum 300 games) to never make the NBA Finals.

— 26.4: Brunson averaged 26.4 points per game in three seasons under Thibodeau. He earned two All-Star nods, two second-team All-NBA selections and the 2024-25 Clutch Player of the Year Award in that span. Over the previous four years in Dallas, Brunson averaged 11.9 points per game in a supporting role.

— 3: Thibodeau had three years remaining on his contract with the Knicks, who extended his deal last summer.

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