Mikal Bridges hits buzzer-beating threes, but he also doesn’t mince his words.
The New York Knicks‘ starting two-guard said he asked head coach Tom Thibodeau to play the starters fewer minutes because the bench deserves more of an opportunity.
“Sometimes it’s not fun on the body,” Bridges told the media recently, as transcribed by the New York Post’s Stefan Bondy. “You’ll want that as a coach, but (I) also talked to him a little bit, knowing that we’ve got a good enough team where our bench guys can come in and we don’t need to play 48 [minutes], 47.”
Bridges is the current owner of the NBA’s “Iron Man” title, having played the most consecutive games of any current player in the NBA at 538.
He’s also tied with teammate Josh Hart for most minutes per game this season at 37.8. OG Anunoby ranks in the top six at 36.6 minutes a night, as well.
“We’ve got a lot of good guys on this team that can take away minutes,” Bridges added. “Which helps the defense, helps the offense, helps tired bodies being out there and giving up all these points. It helps just keeping fresh bodies out there.”
New York averages the fewest bench minutes per game with 12.3, nearly two full minutes less than the next lowest team. The Knickerbockers are the only team whose bench has yet to log at least 4,500 minutes this season, and they’re not even at 4,000 yet (3,949).
“I think he’s not arguing about it. Sometimes, I think he just gets in his ways, and he gets locked in,” Bridges said. “He just wants to keep the guy out there. Sometimes you’ve got to tell him, like Landry [Shamet], for example, or somebody, keep him out there, they’re playing well.”
Shamet, 27, spent time with Bridges on the Phoenix Suns and impressed the Knicks during pre-season before going down with a dislocated shoulder. He rehabbed with New York’s G League affiliate in Westchester and eventually re-joined the team in December, where he’s since averaged 3.9 points in 11.8 minutes per game.
Over his last 20 games, Shamet has been shooting 45% from three-point territory but hasn’t seen much of an increase in opportunity.
“I think it’s something you never really get used to,” Bridges said. “Your body is going to feel how it is every year. But I’ve been a part of it for a while, knowing how to take care of my body through those situations and just trying to do as much as I can.”
