Miles McBride Embraces Knicks' 'Tom Thibodeau Experience'

Miles McBride is embracing the former aspect of head coach Tom Thibodeau's all-or-nothing approach as the postseason looms.

Mar 21, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; New York Knicks guard Miles McBride (2) dribbles the ball up / Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Miles McBride is leading the New York Knicks down the postseason aisle.

Once an afterthought in the Knicks' rotation, McBride has become a staple in relief and has even leaped into the starting lineup after news of OG Anunoby's latest medical setback broke last week. McBride gave "working weekend" a whole new meaning by playing all 48 minutes of the Knicks' 105-93 Saturday afternoon win over the Brooklyn Nets.

Saturday proved to be a showcase for McBride, who scored 26 points thanks in part to a 6-of-12 output from three-point range. He's the second Knick to play all 48 minutes in a game in the span of a week, as Josh Hart did so in last Monday's win over Golden State.

"There’s nothing that you don’t love about Deuce,” Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said about his third-year backcourt threat, per Bridget Reilly of the New York Post. “From the moment we drafted him and even when he wasn’t playing, that tells you a lot because of the way he worked. A guy’s work ethic is a big part of it, too."

"It’s a credit to him. He’s in phenomenal shape. He stays in phenomenal shape. He takes care of himself. So I think he has the ability to do it."

Mar 23, 2024; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks guard Miles McBride (2) warms up prior to / Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

McBride's lengthy showings are a stark contrast to where he was at the start of the year: through the Knicks' Christmas date with Milwaukee, McBride appeared in only 18 of the first 28 games and averaged less than five minutes in that span. Dealing Immanuel Quickley and Quentin Grimes meant McBride, long-regarded for his defense over his first two seasons, would have to accept larger responsibilities as the team's undisputed top backcourt reserve.

It's safe to say he has accepted a challenge and then some: in addition to continually drawing the Knicks' toughest defensive assignments (i.e. Stephen Curry in San Francisco last week), McBride has shown off newfound scoring abilities, averaging 12.6 in 10 March appearances and scoring 66 total (on over 57 percent from the floor) in the last three games alone.

In the aftermath of Saturday's win, McBride's brother Trey, currently starring on German hardwood, joked that his sibling is working through "the Tom Thibodeau experience" where the player in question "go(es) from not getting any minutes to getting every minute." This month's slate of games, in fact, opened with Miles enduring the busiest bench effort in Knicks history, as he played all but the first 47 seconds of the team's March 3 win in Cleveland after Jalen Brunson was forced to leave with an early injury.

Miles, however, has no issue with going extra Miles, claiming he deliberately avoided eye contract with Thibodeau during Saturday's win.

“It started when I was a child, how I was raised," McBride declared in Reilly's report. "My parents were always telling me to be mentally strong, you’re a leader out there. People are looking to you. So if you crack, then it goes in line, so I just want to be as strong as I can and continue to do what I do.” 

There's no time to rest for McBride and the Knicks, who return to action on Monday night at home against the Detroit Pistons (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG).