Jeff Teague pushes back on Knicks' Mikal Bridges, Tom Thibodeau minutes dispute

03/13/2025 03:54 PM

On Wednesday evening, the New York Knicks picked up a big road win against the Portland Trail Blazers thanks to a game-winning buzzer beater by Mikal Bridges. The win pushed the Knicks record to 2-1 since losing Jalen Brunson to a foot injury and allowed them to hold serve in the Eastern Conference standings.

Recently, Bridges raised eyebrows with his comments about head coach Tom Thibodeau’s demanding usage rate for his starters, which Thibodeau revealed at a recent press conference, per The Athletic.

One person pushing back against that narrative is former point guard Jeff Teague, who played under Thibodeau with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

“Don't nobody want to come out of the game, they don't want to come out of the game. It's cap, I was talking to PJ Tucker yesterday. People do not want to come out of the game. I used to see him run to the bench and be mad when they subbed him out,” said Teague, per the Club 520 Podcast. “You played 43 minutes.”

Teague then spoke on his own experiences with the dilemma.

“Like when I was in my prime, I did not want to come out of the game. I used to be s—ty. Like sit on the bench for 8 minutes straight, and you watch Kyle Lowry play 38 minutes per game. I'm just saying you do not want to come out of the game. You ain't never heard Jalen Brunson complain,” said Teague.

Will Thibodeau’s rotations come back to bite?

Last year, many blamed Thibodeau for his heavy usage throughout the regular season when many of the Knicks’ best players went down with injury during the team’s playoff run, which ended in the second round vs the Indiana Pacers.

Thibodeau evidently was not one of those people, as he has continued to play his starters heavy minutes this year, including Bridges, who leads the NBA in minutes played this season.

With Brunson out for the next week or so, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Thibodeau continue to lean even heavier on his other four starters to make up the difference.

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