PORTLAND — A key New York Knicks starter said he’s talked to his coach about playing too many minutes. The coach denies such a conversation happened.
There might be a little friction in New York.
Wednesday morning in Portland ahead of a game against the Trail Blazers, Knicks wing Mikal Bridges spoke to reporters, including The Athletic’s, after New York’s shootaround. In the scrum, Bridges was asked whether coach Tom Thibodeau, who has a public perception of playing his starters too many minutes, gets too much flak for relying on his starters.
This was Bridges’ answer:
“You know, I’m on that side because I’m a starter and I’ll play a lot of minutes. Sometimes not fun on the body. But you want that as a coach, but also talk to him a little bit, knowing that we’ve got a good enough team where our bench guys can come in and we don’t need to play 48, 47 (minutes). We’ve got a lot of good guys on this team that can take away the minutes, which helps the defense, helps the offense, helps tired bodies being out there and giving up all these points. It helps us keeping fresh bodies out there.”
Bridges then said he and Thibodeau have had a conversation about it.
“Yeah, no, he’s not really, he’s not arguing about it,” Bridges said. “Sometimes I think he just gets in his ways and he gets locked in and he just wants to keep the guy out there. Sometimes you have to tell him like, Landry (Shamet) for example or somebody, keep them out there, they’re playing well.”
Hours later, though, the drama came when Thibodeau was asked about Bridges’ comments during his pregame meeting with the media.
“For one, we never had a conversation about it,” Thibodeau said. “The facts are the facts. When you look at our team, and the way it works, Jalen (Brunson) plays 35 minutes, and I think he’s 20th or 21st in average minutes played. (Karl-Anthony Towns), who is a primary scorer, plays less than Jalen. He’s like 25th in the league in average minutes.
“Your wings play more, right? They’re matched up with primary scorers. The way it works, if Jayson Tatum is in the game or Jaylen Brown is in the game, OG (Anunoby) will be in the game and Mikal will be in the game. When those guys go out, (our) guys go out. When they come back, (our guys) come back. We try to keep them matched up. If you look at the league, all those guys are playing 36, 37 minutes — whether it’s Durant, Tatum, Brown. The wings are going to play more. They are primary wings defenders. That’s the way it works. And then sometimes you’re caught in matchups. The Lakers are big wings, so sometimes you deal with that.”
Thibs on Bridges’ comments to us about minutes earlier this morning: “We never had a conversation about it. The facts are the facts. Jalen is 20th or 21st in average minutes. KAT is below that. Your wings play more. They’re matched up against primary players.”
— James L. Edwards III (@JLEdwardsIII) March 13, 2025
Bridges is the only player on the Knicks roster who has publicly discussed playing too many minutes. Josh Hart said earlier this season that he’d always rather be out there. Brunson has always downplayed the minutes discussion when asked.
Bridges is currently second in the NBA in minutes per game (37.8). New York’s wings — Bridges, Hart and Anunoby — are all in the top six in minutes per game. Denver and Phoenix both have two players ranked in the top 10.
Thibodeau also noted that Bridges’ minutes have dropped as of late, and he’s correct. Bridges ranks 13th in the NBA in minutes per game since Jan. 1. He’s played 40-plus minutes six times since Feb. 1, and four of those were overtime games.
A lot of Thibodeau’s reliance on the starters this season has been due to injuries. Both Deuce McBride and Precious Achiuwa have missed time with various injuries. Shamet was out until late December after suffering a shoulder injury in the preseason. Mitchell Robinson just made his season debut last week.
The Knicks also ruined their chances of adding any meaningful depth after making big trades for Bridges and Towns before the season.
Last year, with a deeper bench, the Knicks had just two players in the top 20 in minutes per game, with Julius Randle and Brunson ranking 15th and 16th, respectively. Brunson and Hart were the only New York players in the top 40 of total minutes played in the NBA.
Bridges currently ranks first in the NBA in total minutes (2,400-plus), but he’s done that twice before — 2021-22 in Phoenix, and 2022-23 in Phoenix and Brooklyn.
He’s had an up-and-down season in his first year in New York. He’s had some big performances. He’s also struggled shooting consistently. And while he’s been a good defender, he hasn’t been a premier point-of-attack defender consistently enough to warrant trading five first-round picks, as the Knicks did to acquire him.
Bridges has one year left on his contract and will be eligible before next season to sign a four-year contract worth up to $146 million.
Required reading
(Photo: Elsa / Getty Images)
