New York Knicks’ Josh Hart defends Tom Thibodeau against ‘unfair narrative’

After the New York Knicks crashed out of the playoffs amid a pile of injuries to key players, Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau was criticized for seemingly overworking his team.

Indeed, with the Knicks being shorthanded, the remaining healthy players had to play big minutes.

No one knows that more than Josh Hart.

The Knicks forward led the NBA in minutes in the second half of the regular season and played huge minutes in the playoffs, including 10 straight quarters without rest over three games. Hart himself suffered from an abdominal strain that limited him in Games 6 and 7 of the second-round series against the Indiana Pacers.

However, during his appearance on Ryan Clark’s “The Pivot Podcast,” Hart defended Thibodeau against these criticisms, saying Thibodeau was not overcharging the Knicks.

“I think sports in general, once you have a label, it’s almost impossible to change that label, to change that narrative,” Hart said. “It could have been like that in Chicago or Minnesota, wherever (Thibodeau) was, but in the year and a half that I’ve been (in New York), it’s light. It’s cold. We’ve probably been broadcast six or seven times during the entire season during training.

“A lot of the time it’s more mental. It’s more, okay, we’re running through these games…it’s more the mental part where you have to lock in when you’re practicing. It’s not “It’s not really physical. We don’t really run and down there, we don’t really do much.”

Hart said he hated practice and was surprised at how lightly the Knicks practiced.

“I think (Thibodeau) has had an unfair narrative that follows him everywhere,” Hart said.

When asked if he played the full 48 minutes of a playoff game, Hart said Thibodeau checked on him frequently to see if he needed to come out of the game to rest. Hart said he would ignore Thibodeau in those moments, saying he would ask him if he needed a break.

Hart also called many of the Knicks’ injuries “freak incidents” that had nothing to do with Thibodeau’s coaching.

“We have seven, eight healthy players, and you’re mad at this guy playing six,” Hart said. “It’s like, as you know, sometimes the seventh, eighth, ninth guy, they’re not ready yet… So it’s like you have to go with who you know and who you have trust.”

Hart and Knicks players frequently defended Thibodeau against such criticism throughout the season. When Thibodeau was voted the coach players least want to play for in an anonymous poll by The Athletic, Hart called the players “soft.”

Knicks guard Donte DiVincenzo also dismissed those criticisms, saying players who aren’t in the Knicks locker room don’t know what’s going on.

If the Knicks are able to re-sign OG Anunoby and Isaiah Hartenstein in free agency this summer, they will have a loaded roster and Thibodeau should have a much easier time balancing minutes.