One of the biggest critiques that has followed New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau throughout his coaching career is his minutes distribution. He is commonly called out for playing his starters heavy minutes and rarely utilizing his bench.
Channing Frye calls out Tom Thibodeau for playing the starters too many minutes
Former NBA player and 2016 champion Channing Frye joins that list of people who are openly critical of Thibodeau. Speaking on NBA TV before the Knicks’ matchup with the Sacramento Kings Monday night, Frye went after Thibodeau for not using his bench and believes that the heavy workload for the starters is the reason for the late-season injuries.
“There’s no way you can go dumb hard for 40 minutes every single night in a game,” Frye said. “That’s why it’s frustrating because the Knicks have all the talent in the world. Every year, it’s a repeat thing of ‘oh, man, the Knicks are really good, oh hamstring, oh foot, oh hamstring, hamstring, hamstring, knees, knees. They must have a deal with a doctor! What is going on? Give them a chance to be great. You need a break. Just give [the starters] 35 minutes.”
The Knicks suffered a great amount of injuries last season which derailed a potentially deep playoff run. However, to counter Frye’s point, a majority of those injuries had nothing to do with an increased workload and rather were on-court incidents that unfortunately resulted in injuries.
For example, Jalen Brunson broke his hand in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, Julius Randle suffered a dislocated shoulder in a game in January 2024, and Mitchell Robinson hurt his ankle during the playoffs which he needed surgery for. None of those injuries were related to being overused and were all freak accidents on the court.
The Knicks are managing player injuries cautiously this season
This season is more of the same story, as Jalen Brunson is currently missing time with a sprained ankle he suffered against the Lakers last week. OG Anunoby also missed six games after spraining his foot in a separate contest against the Lakers.
On the other hand, to back up Frye’s point, some players are dealing with injuries that can be attributed to workload. Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart have both dealt with knee issues all season, but the Knicks have made sure to manage both of those cautiously given that they are sitting comfortably in the third seed.
Furthermore, Thibodeau has shown a willingness to use his bench players a bit more. To be fair to him, the bench has not produced strong results for most of the season, which would explain why the starters are on the court for a significant amount of time.
With the playoffs just around the corner, health will be the biggest priority for the Knicks down the final stretch of the regular season. Perhaps Thibodeau will begin to use his bench more as their playoff positioning becomes more clear.