Knicks’ Julius Randle, Tom Thibodeau disrespected in anonymous player poll

Hours after Tom Thibodeau and Julius Randle were disrespected in The Athletic’s anonymous player poll (subscription required), the New York Knicks suffered an ugly 107-90 loss to the Cavaliers in Game 2 of the playoffs. Thibodeau and Randle didn’t make a strong case for themselves, either.

In fact, Thibodeau keeping Randle in the game late in the fourth quarter with the Knicks down by 20-plus points led to a scary play. Randle was going up for a fastbreak dunk and collided with Jarrett Allen in the air, who was trailing Randle. The All-Star forward crashed to the ground and landed on his back. After staying down momentarily, Randle got up and went to the locker room. Allen was given a flagrant one foul, which J.B. Bickerstaff didn’t agree with.

Tom Thibodeau should’ve known better, especially with Derrick Rose sitting on New York’s bench. It felt eerily similar to 2012, except Randle didn’t suffer a serious injury.

Although that play wasn’t Randle’s fault, he (like every other Knicks player) had a disappointing evening. He finished with 22 points and eight rebounds but shot 8-of-20 from the field.

Randle didn’t do much to help his case of being voted the second-most overrated player in the NBA. Meanwhile, Thibodeau was voted the least likely coach that players wanted to play for. Yikes, but should fans really be surprised by that one?

Knicks’ Tom Thibodeau, Julius Randle appear in anonymous player poll for wrong reasons

Julius Randle got 7.4% of 54 votes, tied with Toronto’s Pascal Siakam for the second-most overrated player in the league. Unsurprisingly, Atlanta’s Trae Young got 14.8% of the votes. No, the Knicks shouldn’t trade for Young this summer if he becomes available.

If this poll would’ve been released this time last year, it would’ve made more sense. Randle followed up a tremendous 2020-21 season with a discouraging 2021-22 performance. He’s risen back to All-Stardom this season as he averaged a career-high 25.1 points in 77 regular season games. Perhaps players that voted still had last season fresh on their minds.

If it weren’t for Randle, New York would’ve likely winded up fighting for a play-in spot, which is where many expected they would be anyways. Thanks to his efforts, the Knicks were able to secure the No. 5 seed in the East.

As for Tom Thibodeau, he got a whopping 43.6% of the 55 votes for the coach that players would least like to play for. One player said:

"“Just the grind,” one player said of Thibodeau. He plays his guys 44 minutes (a game) all year. I’ve heard from guys like if he likes you — if you’re his guy — he’ll treat you great. He’ll play you a lot, talk to you, so you’ll f— with him in that sense. But if you’re on the outside, it’s like you’re not getting back in.”"

It’s hard to argue with that. Look no further than the Cam Reddish situation. It was for the best that he was traded to Portland in February, but there wasn’t an explanation as to why he was benched for the last two months of his stint in New York.

On the flip side, Gregg Popovich was voted the coach that players wanted to play for the most. That isn’t a shock, either.

Jalen Brunson appeared in the poll as well. He received 4.1% of 97 votes as the most underrated player in the league. Out of 103 votes, 9.7% of players voted that MSG has the best fans. However, when asked which arena has the worst fans, MSG got 4% of 99 votes.

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