For the second straight season, Tom Thibodeau was named the head coach players would least like to play for in an annual anonymous players poll conducted by The Athletic.
Despite leading the Knicks to a 50-win season and the second seed in the Eastern Conference, Thibodeau was far and away voted the coach players would least like to play for, garnering 46.8 percent of the 77 votes cast, way ahead of the next highest head coach, which was Doc Rivers at 9.1 percent.
“I’m too old for those practices,” one player told The Athletic, leaning into the narrative of Thibodeau’s demanding practices. Another player said, “He’s playing everyone 48 minutes,” though the highest Knick in minutes per game this season was Jalen Brunson at 15th in the league.
Still, players did get high minutes demands while New York was weathering a heavy injury storm this season, as Josh Hart consistently noted his heavy minutes during the regular season, while Donte DiVincenzo saw games where he sat for less than a minute. But overall, Thibodeau’s Knicks weren’t among the league leaders in minutes per game this season.
Still, despite that reality and the success of the Knicks over the past two seasons, it hasn’t seemed to help Thibodeau shake off that reputation among players around The Association.
Other Knicks to see their names show up in the anonymous polls included OG Anunoby getting minimal votes for the best defender in the league, and Julius Randle getting a few for most overrated player in the league.