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Tom Thibodeau criticized for playing injured KAT late while down big against Celtics

The former Timberwolves coach continued to live up to his reputation on Sunday.

Nolan O'Hara

New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns shakes hands with head coach Tom Thibodeau as he exits the game during the third quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Madison Square Garden in New York on Jan. 10, 2025.
New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns shakes hands with head coach Tom Thibodeau as he exits the game during the third quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Madison Square Garden in New York on Jan. 10, 2025. / Brad Penner-Imagn Images
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The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Former Minnesota Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau, now the coach of the New York Knicks, is once again the subject of criticism for risking injury to a star player by playing them in the final minutes of a game that was already decided. This time, it was Karl-Anthony Towns, the former Timberwolves star, who played during the final minutes of a game where the outcome wasn't in doubt, and to add injury to insult, Towns had exited earlier in the fourth quarter after tweaking his knee.

Trailing 99-88 to the Boston Celtics in the fourth quarter Sunday in Boston, Towns appeared to injure his knee after attempting to dunk over Kristaps Porzingis. Towns appeared to be in a lot of pain on the Knicks bench before ultimately exiting to the locker room. Towns, however, emerged from the locker room and returned to the bench. The Celtics went on a run while Towns was off, but Thibodeau still subbed him back in when the Knicks were down by 18 points with 4:21 to go.

Towns didn't seem to re-injure the knee in the final minutes of what became a 118-105 Knicks loss to the Celtics, but he didn't quite look like himself either, and appeared to grab at his knee at times during the last stretch. Towns finished with 24 points and 18 rebounds, but he didn't score, grabbed just one rebound and picked up a pair of fouls in the last 4:18.

Fans on social media were questioning why Towns returned to the game with the Knicks down 18 after suffering the injury. Notably, Thibodeau was the coach of the Chicago Bulls when star guard Derrick Rose tore his ACL during the last minute of a playoff game against the Philadelphia 76ers in 2012. Rose suffered the injury with 1:22 remaining in the game, which the Bulls won by 12 points. Thibodeau has a reputation for playing his starters heavy minutes and is often criticized for it.

One fan on social media noted Towns' contract is the largest in Knicks history and extends well beyond this season.

"(Thibodeau) sending (Towns) back into a regular-season game in February of 2025 in which N.Y. is down 20 and with less than four minutes remaining after (Towns) just crumpled to the bench in pain clutching his left knee and limped back to the locker room... is unjustifiable," said Tommy Beer, who runs a Substack page dedicated to the Knicks. "Period. It's reckless and short-sighted and unjustifiable."

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Nolan O'Hara
NOLAN O'HARA

Nolan O'Hara covers all things Minnesota sports, primarily the Timberwolves, for Bring Me The News and Sports Illustrated's On SI network. He previously worked as a copy editor at the St. Paul Pioneer Press and is a graduate of the University of Minnesota's Hubbard School of Journalism. His work has appeared in the Pioneer Press, Ratchet & Wrench magazine, the Minnesota Daily and a number of local newspapers in Minnesota, among other publications.

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