One of the things that New York Knicks fans can count on from Tom Thibodeau is that he’s going to live and die by his starting lineup. Regardless of how the team’s performing, both he and the bench are going to watch from the sideline with either disappointment or excitement.
For New York in 2021-22, it was mainly disappointment up until the end of the regular season when Thibodeau finally upped the minutes of players who had previously spent far too much time watching from the bench.
The Knicks head coach wasn’t able to lead his team back to the playoffs for a second straight year, but his name was still brought up in Minnesota’s press conference after the Timberwolves beat the Memphis Grizzlies 130-117 last Saturday.
Karl-Anthony Towns played under Thibodeau for the two and a half years that he was in Minnesota as the head coach and president of basketball operations. During that span, the three-time All-Star averaged the most minutes of his seven-year career.
This past weekend, he had flashbacks to that period of time after he played in a game-high 43 minutes for the Timberwolves. After the win, Towns gave a shoutout (if you can call it that) to his former coach.
Towns on playing 43 minutes: "When was the last time I played 43?" I know when it was. [Smirks] Thibs. I'm prepared for it."
— John Meyer (@meyerNBA) April 16, 2022
Karl Anthony-Towns pokes fun at Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau.
In 2022, Towns can look back and chuckle about it now, especially since Minnesota had just taken a 1-0 lead over Memphis. The Timberwolves haven’t made it past the first round of the playoffs since the 2003-04 season, so a lot of hope is riding on their series against the Grizzlies.
26-year-old Towns was the No. 1 overall pick of the 2015 draft. In terms of the NBA, the only home that he knows is Minnesota.
Ironically enough, his average of 33.4 minutes per game this year was the lowest for Towns since he played in 33.1 minutes per game during the 2018-19 regular season. That year marked Thibodeau’s last with the Timberwolves and it only ended up lasting half of a year because he was fired in January of 2019.
In Thibodeau’s full two years at the helm, Towns averaged a career-high 37 minutes in the 82 games that he played during the 2016-17 season. The following year, he averaged 35.6 minutes in the 82 games that he played in (again).
Towns played in and started in every single game for the first three years of his career, which included his rookie season before Thibodeau was hired.
New York might not be in the playoffs, but the two teams that Thibodeau served as the head coach of before making his way to the Knicks are in the postseason.
He’s likely enjoyed watching both Chicago and Minnesota play. And maybe, just maybe, Towns’ remark brought a smile to the coach’s face.
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