Tom Thibodeau has drawn the wrath of furious Knicks fans over Jalen Brunson’s injury in garbage time this week.
Brunson twisted his ankle with 20 seconds left in New York’s 133-123 loss to the Boston Celtics on Friday.
Thibodeau has long been criticised for leaving his best players on the floor even when the game is all but over, and for playing his best players too much in general.
Brunson’s injury triggered memories of RJ Barrett’s injury from two seasons ago and Derrick Rose’s ACL injury in Chicago.
The Knicks are yet to announce the severity of Brunson’s injury, with just two days between now and their next game against the Toronto Raptors on Monday.
But New York fans don’t need to know the full extent of the damage to know it was a questionable decision by Thibodeau, and they’ve been making their voices heard online:
Thibs once saw 9 points scored in 5 seconds an awfully long time ago and holds on to that moment to this day.
Well…..that just got your star player injured 🤬🤬 pic.twitter.com/7SSEpWiSE7
— Big Knick Energy (@BigKnickEnergy_) December 9, 2023
Thibs standing on his BS… https://t.co/pu6c4rKQMg pic.twitter.com/YI2cOdxwRm
— West ByMidWest ✊🏽😷❎ (@klewis1123) December 9, 2023
U hate to see players get hurt but why does Thibs even have this ngga in the game when it’s over, dude never learned from D Rose💀 https://t.co/NhZJTPn4B5
— ً (@FanMahome) December 9, 2023
Thibs is ridiculous https://t.co/iJAZGksnzy pic.twitter.com/0vd9R3f4lV
— Petty Richardson 👀 (@75aquariusNR) December 9, 2023
I stood on mountain with bullhorn on this issue during my coverage of Thibs. You'd think after RJ Barrett in Denver he would've awoken to his garbage-time mismanagement https://t.co/YBnSHMpbwU
— Marc Berman (@NYPost_Berman) December 9, 2023
When asked if he regrets the decision to leave his starters on with the game already beyond reach, Thibs simply said, “Nope”.