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Knicks’ Mike Brown to maintain focus on player minutes

Originally posted on Empire Sports Media
By Dylan Backer | Last updated Sep 30, 2025 10:28 AM ET

One of the biggest criticisms that Tom Thibodeau got when he was head coach of the New York Knicks was the minutes distribution of his players. Oftentimes, the starters were playing a heavy load of minutes during the regular season, which could have contributed to fatigue late in the season and into the playoffs.

Knicks’ Mike Brown wants to keep an eye on players’ minutes

New head coach Mike Brown wants to be more conscious of the workload the players have this upcoming season. He spoke about it after their first practice in Abu Dhabi this week.

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“The biggest thing is trying to make sure you watch everybody’s minutes instead of trying to chase games,” Brown said, via Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. “There might be some games where maybe you throw the towel in early.”

Thibodeau often left the starters in games for long stretches, even in blowouts. Josh Hart led the league in minutes played last season, and Mikal Bridges was right there with him in minutes on the court.

The Knicks have tons of depth now

With the team having a deeper bench now, it may not be necessary to play those guys for a significant amount of minutes each game. They have several go-to options down the stretch of games, all of which can get the job done.

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They have depth at every position now, especially in the backcourt. This summer, they signed Malcolm Brogdon, Landry Shamet, Jordan Clarkson, and Guerschon Yabusele, all of whom are expected to have big roles this upcoming season.

How the minutes will be distributed remains to be seen, but it is clear that Brown wants to change the ways that Thibodeau ran the show when he was head coach.

This article first appeared on Empire Sports Media and was syndicated with permission.

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