Rick Carlisle couldn’t believe the Knicks’ firing of Tom Thibodeau. 

During a pre-NBA Finals press conference on Wednesday, the Pacers head coach sounded off on the shocking move that rocked the NBA world a day earlier.

“Thibs went in and changed so much. You look at all that and what happened yesterday, I thought [the news] was one of those fake AI things,” Carlisle said. “No way. No way possible. I know how the players feel about him, too.”

The Pacers eliminated the Knicks in six games during the Eastern Conference finals, ending Thibodeau’s five-year run as the franchise’s head coach.

Carlisle said he doesn’t think it’ll be long before Thibodeau is back in the league after he went 226-174 during the regular season with the Knicks and made the postseason four times in five seasons.

“Teams and ownership can make these decisions unilaterally and it’s their right to do that. Tom will certainly be fine. I don’t think he’s going to have any problem finding his next job. It’s just going to depend on when he’s ready to jump back in. I have great respect for Thibs. I go back with him a very long way. I was surprised.”

The Knicks are now in the early days of a head coaching search with names like Johnnie Bryant and Jay Wright, among others, floating around. 

No matter who gets the job, Carlisle said it won’t come easy. 

“The Knicks have such a unique situation with so much attention and such a large fan base and such a worldwide following,” he said. “It’s one of the most difficult jobs to take. The guys that have been most successful — Red Holzman, Pat Riley, Jeff Van Gundy, Rick Pitino — had a short run but a very effective run. And then, there were a lot of lean years.”

Carlisle and the Pacers tip off on Thursday night in Oklahoma City against the Thunder in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.