NBA Players Vote Knicks' Thibodeau as HC They'd Least Want to Play for in New Poll

New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau apparently doesn't have the best reputation among NBA players.

Sam Amick and Josh Robbins of The Athletic shared the results of an anonymous poll the publication conducted by asking 108 current players a number of questions. One of those questions was which coach they would least want to play for, and Thibodeau took the crown with 43.6 percent of the vote.

The 65-year-old is known as something of an old-school, defense-first, hard-nosed coach who was a longtime assistant for the Minnesota Timberwolves, San Antonio Spurs, Philadelphia 76ers, Knicks, Houston Rockets and Boston Celtics before he landed his first head-coaching gig with the Chicago Bulls starting with the 2010-11 campaign.

He led the Bulls to the playoffs in all five of his seasons.

However, he was also known to play his primary players significant minutes, and injuries and overall attrition played a role in Chicago never quite being able to get over the top against the LeBron James-led Miami Heat in their Eastern Conference playoff battles.

Thibodeau then coached the Timberwolves for three seasons and has been with the Knicks since the start of the 2020-21 campaign.

Despite Thibodeau's reputation, no Knicks player finished in the top 18 of minutes per game this season, with Julius Randle, Jalen Brunson and RJ Barrett representing the only ones to even crack the top 50.

Still, there are plenty of players around the league who aren't exactly lining up to join the coach in New York.