Kendrick Perkins goes hard on players criticizing Knicks HC's style: "Thibs don't want to coach y'all cupcake a**es either"
Tom Thibodeau of the New York Knicks was recently voted by players as the coach they don't want to play for. Thibodeau won by a landslide to remain unpopular with most players in the league. However, Kendrick Perkins defended Thibs following New York's big win over the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 2.
In a tweet, Perkins called out the players who voted for Thibodeau in The Athletic's poll. He previously played for Thibs with the Boston Celtics when the 66-year-old coach was an assistant to Doc Rivers.
"And another thing before I move on. All those soft a** players that said they would'’t want to play for Thibs… guess what? Thibs don't want to coach y'all cupcake a**es either. Carry on," Perkins wrote.
Tom Thibodeau always had a reputation for playing his players to the ground. Some of the players in The Athletic's poll don't want to play a full game or go hard on practices under Thibodeau.
However, Thibs has been managing his players well this season with only four players in the top-50 in minutes per game. He has guided the New York Knicks to the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference and they have a 2-0 lead over the Philadelphia 76ers.
The two-time Coach of the Year has gotten the most out of his players this season due to a lot of injuries. Jalen Brunson turned into an All-Star, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo have been providing a lot on both ends of the floor.
Isaiah Hartenstein will have a lot of suitors when he becomes a free agent this summer due to how well he has played this season.
Knicks players defend Tom Thibodeau
Several New York Knicks players came out to defend their coach from the players who didn't want to play for him. Josh Hart went on Instagram and called the players who voted "soft."
Donte DiVincenzo had an expletive-filled rant before the team's Game 2 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. DiVincenzo had the best year of his career in his first season with the Knicks under Tom Thibodeau.
"Bullsh*t, that's all I have to say. A lot of guys don't play for Thibs. I play for Thibs. On the outside, looking in you have a certain viewpoint. When you are inside and play for Thibs, like I said, it's bullsh*t,” DiVincenzo said. [H/T New York Post]
Bojan Bogdanovic, who arrived in New York in a midseason trade from the Detroit Pistons, called Thibodeau a "straight up" guy. Bogdanovic was also baffled as to why players don't want to play a lot of minutes in a game.