The New York Knicks’ storybook 2024-25 NBA season has officially come to an end. A 125-108 Game 6 loss at the hands of the Indiana Pacers closed out the series, and with it the most successful season for New York basketball since 1999. New York’s style of play helped them get as far as they did. At the same time, NBA analyst Shannon Sharpe questions whether it was also the reason for their demise.
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New York head coach Tom Thibodeau is notorious for playing their starters heavy minutes. He has carried that reputation since his first head coaching stint with the Chicago Bulls when he kept the starters in against the Philadelphia 76ers, leading a blowout win to become a disastrous failure when Derrick Rose tore his left ACL.
If reality were like a simulation in NBA 2K, Thibodeau would be a genius. Unfortunately, there aren’t any settings to ensure injuries don’t occur throughout the 82-game season. Fatigue will catch up with the human body. Sharpe couldn’t help but conclude that New York couldn’t play up to their full strength, and Thibodeau’s coaching habits may have been the case.
“[Tom Thibodeau] grinds his guys down in the regular season,” Sharpe said on his Nightcap podcast. “So you can tell these guys didn’t have any legs.”
The Knicks’ starters hold much of the responsibility to win games on a nightly basis. This isn’t by their choice but by Thibodeau’s design. Surprisingly, Thibodeau showed more faith in his bench and changed the starting lineup to feature an excelling Mitchell Robinson, which was a key reason for their Game 3 and 5 victories. Unfortunately, the decision came a bit too late.
“He’s got to start playing his bench a little bit more. I know he doesn’t really like playing the bench; he was like that in Chicago. It got him in trouble,” Sharpe proclaimed.
The moment that Sharpe is referring to is Rose’s career-altering ACL injury with the Bulls. Thankfully, the Knicks didn’t experience any drastic injuries. Nonetheless, it’s unsustainable for players to endure such conditions throughout the NBA playoffs.
“You’re playing guys 39 and 40 minutes in the regular season, and then come playoffs, you got to focus even more, so that burns more energy out of you,” Sharpe said.
Some may say that Thibs has learned as a coach. It’s not unrealistic to say that the Knicks only have one or two playable bench players between Josh Hart and Miles “Deuce” McBride. Maybe his decision to minimize the bench had to do with roster construction just as much as it was his own minutiae.
Still, these questions from Sharpe aren’t meant to diminish the Knicks’ successful playoff run. The questions point to a bigger problem, which may prevent them from reaching their ultimate goal. As a result, Knicks president Leon Rose will have significant decisions to make this offseason both in terms of roster and coaching choices.
