If any player can meet Tom Thibodeau’s stringent demands, it might be Mikal Bridges.
The versatile star joined the Knicks in a blockbuster trade from the Nets on Tuesday and became one of just a handful of NBA players to play every game in a season during his professional career – 474 to be exact.
That includes playing 83 games in the 2022-23 season after joining the Nets as part of the trade that sent Kevin Durant to Phoenix.
He played in all 116 games over his three years at Villanova University.
And the 27-year-old is used to playing long minutes during the regular season.
Bridges averaged 34.8 minutes per game in his final season with the Nets and protested when the team tried to limit his playing time.
Against the Bucks in December, the Nets opted to rest some of their starters after back-to-back games, much to the irritation of coach Bridges.
“I didn’t like the choice, or whatever it was,” Bridges told reporters at the time, “but whatever it was. I was definitely not a fan.”
He later added that he didn’t need any rest “at all.”
Over the course of Bridges’ six-year career, he averaged 32.7 minutes per game.
He’ll need to maintain that mindset now that he’s part of the Nova Knicks, a group of former Wildcats who became Big Apple stars at Madison Square Garden and playing for a coach known for pushing players to the limits of playing time.
Thibodeau became known for repairing his coaching career.
Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle, OG Anunoby and Josh Hart all averaged 33 minutes per game during the regular season.
Knicks players defended Thibodeau, but in a player poll conducted by The Athletic, Thibodeau was named “the coach they least wanted to play for.”
“He plays every 48 minutes,” one player said.
