Knicks player responds after Tom Thibodeau gets bad ratings in NBA player poll

Oct 30, 2022; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau in the third quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

One New York Knicks player is responding after coach Tom Thibodeau got bad reviews in an annual player poll.

Thibodeau was, by some distance, voted the coach that players would least like to play for in The Athletic’s annual anonymous poll of NBA players. With a sample size of 77 votes, Thibodeau received 46.8 percent of the vote, while no other coach received more than 9.1 percent.

Knicks guard Donte DiVincenzo had a strong response to those results.

“Buls–t, that’s all I have to say,” DiVincenzo said, via Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. “A lot of guys don’t play for Thibs. I play for Thibs. On the outside, looking in you have a certain viewpoint. When you are inside and play for Thibs, like I said, it’s bulls–t.

“You don’t know him. You don’t know how the organization runs. You don’t know how the practices run. You don’t know anything. You see honestly on the sideline how he acts. To us that’s dedication. That’s how much love and dedication he gives to us every day. Like I said, that poll is bulls–t and inaccurate.”

Thibodeau has a reputation for running tough, demanding practices and wearing players down over the course of a season. His defenders say it helps him get the most out of his squads, but detractors say he is simply too tough on his players.

Thibodeau definitely is not for everyone. There are definitely some players that do not mind his style, and the current Knicks seem to have bought in to his methods. For DiVincenzo, that is clearly all that matters.