Anyone who follows basketball knows at least one thing about New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau: he loves to play his best guys’ heavy minutes. It’s been no different this year, with each of New York’s five starters playing 35.1 minutes per game or more. In fact, Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges are tied for first in the NBA at an astounding 37.8 minutes a night. The heavy burdens these guys have carried have been a hot topic of conversation, with some even calling for Thibodeau to be fired if he doesn’t change his ways. Critics cite New York’s injury bug costing them their season last year when the team completely broke down in the playoffs, leading to a premature second-round exit. Well, one of those starters might feel the same way. Let’s dive into Mikal Bridges’ recent comments.
Mikal Bridges Asked Tom Thibodeau for Fewer Starters’ Minutes
Stefan Bondy of the New York Post reports that Knicks wing Mikal Bridges implored Thibodeau to lower the starters’ minutes. Apparently, Bridges feels this way for two reasons. One is the toll it takes on a player’s body to stay out there for 40-plus minutes regularly. Despite being the league’s most durable player, Bridges says he can feel the wear and tear. The cumulative effect of that could be detrimental to their playoff success.
Mikal Bridges says he’s asked Tom Thibodeau to back off a bit on the starters minutes because the bench deserves more.
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— Stefan Bondy (@SbondyNBA) March 12, 2025
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Secondly, New York’s bench has played well of late and should get an extended run when they’re in a groove. Even Miles McBride, who is now starting in place of Jalen Brunson, hasn’t gotten nearly as much playing time as he should when the lineup was healthy. Cameron Payne and Landry Shamet have been excellent in recent games, and Thibodeau needs to recognize when they’re in rhythm and capitalize on the chance to get starters more rest. Once Mitchell Robinson‘s minutes restriction is lifted, he should also see 25-plus minutes a night. Overall, the Knicks have plenty of bench players they could give more opportunities to.
The Regular Season is Meaningless
The biggest reason why the minutes issue is frustrating for fans, and now Bridges, is that the results of the final 18 games simply aren’t that important. That’s not to say the Knicks shouldn’t play hard every night and try to win. Building winning habits together is important for a squad’s culture and will reveal itself in the playoffs. However, each individual outcome is essentially meaningless for New York’s postseason outlook. NY is five games ahead of Indiana, Milwaukee, and Detroit for the third seed and 5.5 behind Boston for the second seed. With 18 games left, they’re almost certainly locked into third. Furthermore, falling to four wouldn’t be a bad thing as Cleveland may be an easier second-round matchup than Boston.
So, with the rest of the campaign solely about finding their winning playoff formula, rest is a priority. Although New York has been one of the league’s healthiest teams despite heavy minutes, they have several players banged up. OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Hart are nursing nagging injuries. Brunson will be coming off a serious ankle injury when he returns. The key is to make sure the entire rotation makes it to mid-April as healthy as possible. It’s not to win as many of the final 18 games as possible. Knicks fans can only hope Thibodeau heeds Bridges’ call.
Photo credit: © Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
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