Jalen Brunson Opens Up About Tom Thibodeau’s Intense Regular Season Minutes

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Okay, so New York Knicks and this chatter about their head coach Tom Thibodeau—it’s everywhere, right? Dude’s known for really driving his players, like, pedal to the metal for the whole season. I mean, you’ve probably heard it, how folks think all those minutes lead to injuries or guys just running out of juice. But then there’s Jalen Brunson. On Thursday, after they barely scraped by the Detroit Pistons, he was all smiles and oddly grateful for it. Go figure.

He said something like, “Thanks to Thibs for running us ragged all year; now I’m playoff-ready!” Like, seriously? He said it with this kinda laugh that made the press crack up. Not gonna lie, it was one of those moments where you’re like, is he joking? Or… ironic truth bomb? Who knows.

Anyway, back when Jalen was with the Dallas Mavericks—man, those were the days, right?—he used to get like 24.7 minutes a game. Now? In New York, he’s clocking in a juicy 35.3. Wild stuff. And he’s not flying solo here. Thibodeau has his guys on the court like they’ve forgotten where the bench is. It’s brilliant if you’ve got the Knicks’ powerhouse starters. Yet, some folks are like, “Watch out! They’re gonna crash hard come playoff time.” I mean, I get it. Just look at last year—Brunson himself got sidelined.

There’s this other angle too, like how more playing time for the main guys means the bench hardly gets any time to breathe. So when the playoffs hit, are they gonna keep up? That’s kinda the million-dollar question. Right now, though, things look peachy—Knicks are pretty healthy and leading 2-1 over Detroit. Who’s complaining, right?

But—oh, here comes the but—what if injuries start raining down? Is Brunson still gonna be cracking those jokes, crediting Thibodeau for his stamina? Guess we’ll find out soon enough.

And, hey, if you’re curious—Jalen’s also had some words for Karl-Anthony Towns after Game 3. He seems full of surprises these days.