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Tom Thibodeau and Mikal Bridges 'Hashed Things Out' After Conflicting Comments

Kristen Wong

New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau reacts during the first half against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Arena.
New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau reacts during the first half against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Arena. / Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
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The New York Knicks face a tough slate this spring as star Jalen Brunson works his way back to full health from an ankle sprain with his return tentatively set for early April.

Some good news for the Eastern Conference contenders is that coach Tom Thibodeau and Mikal Bridges have reportedly resolved their differences in light of their conflicting comments over the Knicks starters' workload.

Last week, Bridges told reporters that he asked Thibodeau, a coach notoriously known for hard-nosed approach to rotations, to ease up on the minutes load on the team's starters.

Thibodeau, on his part, denied the two ever had a conversation about it. In a new report from ESPN's Shams Charania, however, the two officially had that conversation behind closed doors last Wednesday.

"After both those comments were made publicly, I'm told that both Mikal Bridges and Tom Thibodeau held a closed-door meeting in Portland before that game on Wednesday," Charania said. "It's been described to me by everyone involved as a productive meeting, one that both sides were able to hash things out, get their feelings across... Both sides have moved on. The Knicks, as far they're concerned, this is over."

Following that alleged meeting, Bridges put up 33 minutes in 41 minutes, including a 25-foot three-pointer at the buzzer to lift the Knicks to a 114-113 overtime win over the Trail Blazers Wednesday night.

The Knicks (42-23) currently sit in third in the East but are in danger of falling down the playoff seeding with Brunson's latest unfortunate injury update.

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Kristen Wong
KRISTEN WONG

Kristen Wong is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. She has been a sports journalist since 2020. Before joining SI in November 2023, Wong covered four NFL teams as an associate editor with the FanSided NFL Network and worked as a staff writer for the brand’s flagship site. Outside of work, she has dreams of running her own sporty dive bar.

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