“Bring Out the Dog in You”: Jalen Brunson Defends Coach Thibodeau Against Negative Narrative

Jalen Brunson has been a godsend for the New York Knicks. However, as he would admit right back, the franchise has been great right back to him during his time there. Over the two years he’s been with the team, he has gained a special appreciation for head coach Tom Thibodeau in particular, someone he vehemently defended recently during an interview with ESPN’s Taylor Rooks. 

Asked to speak on why players have consistently said that they do not want to play for Thobodeau, Brunson blamed the false narratives around the 66-year-old. Mentioning how a negative narrative has stuck with him for a long time now, Jalen admitted that it falls on the team to win something big to get it off their head coach.

The 27-year-old then talked about the ‘Thibs’s greatest quality – how he keeps his athletes prepared for games. And while he did admit that the coach would only make his players play one style and that they needed to buy into it, he looked plenty satisfied with the conditions.

“[Players don’t want to play for Tom Thibodeau because] a narrative has stuck with him… Once it hits you, it’s kind of hard to shake it unless you do something drastic. So, I feel like if we win, that narrative could wipe from Thibs… One thing I’ve learned from him, you will be prepared for a game. He will bring out the dog in you. He’s going to play a certain style, and you’re going to buy into it…” 

Despite the exhausting-looking regiment that Tom Thibodeau has put in place for the New York Knicks, Jalen Brunson seems to appreciate his philosophy. The player has always looked ready to put his body on the line for his coach. And now that he has explained why, perhaps the Knicks can attract a few more big-name free agents than they have in the last couple of years.

Jalen Brunson once proclaimed that Josh Hart is just like Tom Thibodeau

Josh Hart is not very tall at all for someone in the NBA. However, the 6ft 4″ guard didn’t let this stop him from averaging a monster 8.4 rebounds per game this past season.

Off the back of this, an article called him ‘the self-proclaimed owner of the boards’. Having read the article, Brunson immediately posed just how similar Hart is to their head coach, simply stating,

“Thibs was just like you.”

This spoke to the kind of player Tom Thibodeau was during his time at Salem State College. Just like Hart, he was all about the hustle, doing whatever he could to get his team any kind of edge in games. Perhaps this is the reason why the head coach seems to have such a deep appreciation for his guard.