Out of all the bad things to happen during the Knicks’ embarrassing loss to the Cavaliers in Game 2, one thing that stood out the most happened late in the fourth quarter when the Knicks were down 20+.
No one on the team had been playing well up to this point, which is why it was such a big surprise to see the majority of the starting lineup still on the floor with under five minutes left to go in the game.
Knicks star Julius Randle went up for a fastbreak dunk and was fouled hard by Jarrett Allen, getting hurt in the process and being sent to the locker room shortly after. While it was Allen’s fault for harming Randle, why on earth was he in the game to begin with?
Why does Thibs have Julius Randle in the game !? pic.twitter.com/oXapMk0TyM
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) April 19, 2023
Knicks’ Tom Thibodeau still hasn’t learned from what happened to Derrick Rose
Julius Randle’s injury wasn’t nearly as serious as Derrick Rose’s in 2012, but how on earth has Tom Thibodeau not learned from this? This isn’t even the first time something like this has happened during Thibodeau’s time with the Knicks.
Last season, when the Knicks were getting blown out by the Denver Nuggets, Thibodeau kept Barrett in for the majority of the fourth quarter. With 18 seconds left in the game, Barrett sprained his ankle and missed the next four games.
It’s one thing to give your players excessive minutes in games, which is a problem on its own. However, to blatantly risk your players’ health by keeping them in a lost playoff game is something that should be fireable.
Thibodeau clearly doesn’t have bad intentions in doing this, but these things cannot keep happening, especially with how prioritized player health has rightfully become. This same sort of foolishness is what cost Rose what could have been a long and prosperous career, let alone the mental health effects it had on him as a person.
We respect Tom Thibodeau as a coach and human, but instances such as what happened on Tuesday with Randle cannot continue anymore. There are simply no more excuses to be made for actions such as this.
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