Kevin Knox is no longer with the New York Knicks, which means that his father no longer has to hold his tongue about the team.
Knox was traded by the Knicks to the Atlanta Hawks this week. Afterward, Knox’s father, Kevin Knox Sr., took a parting shot at Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau. In an interview with Marc Berman of the New York Post, Knox Sr. was asked why he felt his son did not get more minutes with the Knicks.
“That’s a great question for Tom Thibodeau,” replied Knox Sr. “I think we turned the corner. Everybody could see the progression of a young Kevin Knox where he wasn’t really a defensive liability. I think Tom Thibodeau did a great job helping Kevin be a better defensive player. At some point, I think he did become that. He’s always had that stroke, and so it become puzzling throughout the organization on why he wasn’t playing Kevin.”
Knox Sr. also said that he would not blame Knicks president Leon Rose for his son’s lack of playing time.
“It’s not the president who calls the plays,” Knox Sr. continued. “It’s not the president who makes the substitutions. The president hires a coach. This coach here obviously felt he can win games without Kevin Knox. To be able to go to another team, you can’t help be excited because you can have the opportunity to have a chance to play meaningful minutes … There’s not many miles on the Rolls Royce.”
Knox Sr. gave other thoughts on both the Knicks the Hawks in his full interview with Berman, which you can read here.
Knox, 22, was drafted by the Knicks with a top-10 pick in 2018. He looked pretty promising in his rookie season, averaging 12.8 points and 4.5 rebounds in 28.8 minutes per game. But Thibodeau was hired in 2020, and Knox had averaged a pitiful 3.8 points and 1.5 rebounds in 10.5 minutes per game since then while being outside of Thibodeau’s rotation.
It is unclear exactly how much more opportunity Knox will get with the Hawks. But what we do know is that the end of Knox’s Knicks tenure continued an absolutely insane curse for James Dolan’s franchise.
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