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In the yearly “The Athletic” anonymous NBA player poll, Tom Thibodeau has once again been voted the coach players would least like to play for.



In the yearly “The Athletic” anonymous NBA player poll, Tom Thibodeau has once again been voted the coach players would least like to play for.

by Merthan

38 Comments

  1. JNerdGaming

    and yet if you ask thibs actual players they love him

  2. pagenotdisplayed

    The players who vote for Thibs should be embarrassed.

  3. OldKingRob

    I honestly can’t see why anyone would prefer to play with Doc, Monty or Darvin Hamas

  4. Some notes:

    1. Erik Spoelstra followed by Gregg Popovich were voted top two coaches players want to play for, both getting roughly 20% of the vote each.
    2. Interesting difference between the “most want to play for/least want to play for” surveys – 133 players cast answers for the coach they’d most want to play for but only 77 cast answers for least, even though anonymity exists. Players not interested in hating as much?
    3. Some of the reasons listed for Thibodeau are funny. “No one wants to play 48 minutes a game.” Thibs only has 4 players in the top 50 for MPG, and none in the top 14.
    4. Madison Square Garden is, of course, the most popular arena to play at, followed by the Lakers’ Cryptodotcom Arena.

  5. Apparently Erik Spoelstra left a positive impression on Josh Hart during his time with FIBA.

    Which current coach, aside from your own, would you most want to play for?

    The Knicks’ Josh Hart, who voted for Spoelstra, insisted that he be quoted on the record for this one.

    “Spo, hands down,” said Hart, who worked with Spoelstra at the FIBA World Cup tournament last summer when the Heat head coach was a Team USA assistant. “Quote me on that one. F–ing love Spo.”

  6. mr_grission

    Thibs is like that teacher at a high school with a reputation for being tough. A lot of kids will avoid his class, but the kids that take on the challenge end up loving him.

  7. It’s OK, those guys that voted thibs are likely pussies that do not like to work

  8. ryankidd77

    Wish it wasn’t anonymous so we could avoid these weak ass players. Don’t come to NY if you ain’t a dog. I ride with Thibs.

  9. SupremeActives

    Good. Add it to the bulletin board. Keep feeding these boys

  10. GoldenBoyRecords

    3 players voted Randle as the most overrated player

  11. Not surprising… this Knicks team gives out a defensive beating on the regular I’d hate the guy behind this masterpiece as well.

  12. Lobottomyng

    They probably couldn’t play in the scheme anyway.

  13. AlphakirA

    I wish we had a list so I knew who I’d never want to play for my team.

  14. I just join this sub so couldn’t post this myself, but also of note from this poll:

    Thibs is in 15th place for coach most wanted to play for.

    Randle is 9th in Most Overrated Player.

    OG ranked 14th in Best Defender.

    OG is 14th in Most Underrated Player.

    MSG is by far the #1 arena to play in (and #20 for worst to play in).

  15. FitzwilliamTDarcy

    “Would you rather work hard and win? Or would you rather take it easy and see what happens?”

  16. Snapesunusedshampoo

    Honestly it makes sense. Thibs stresses defense, if you’re lost out there, you wont play. Unfortunatly, defense doesn’t get you paid unless you are an elite defender.

  17. Sammyc271

    Players will make it all the way to the NBA to be superstars but avoid wanting to play superstar minutes. Im convinced that’s the only reason they wouldn’t wanna play for him.

  18. the_mair

    I hope the players that voted for Thibs never don a Knicks jersey. Not wanting to play for a guy because he makes you play defense and work hard is embarrassing.

  19. HoyaDestroya33

    Probably soft ass players who can’t play D. And the reason they don’t wanna play for Thibs is because they wont get minutes from Thibs. Those who are playing for Thibs loves him.

  20. papa8706

    Thibs is that guy that expects a lot out of his players. Guys who don’t like to work or tough things out are gonna hate his system.

  21. chuteboxhero

    Well yeah no shit, most of the league doesn’t want to play defense so of course they wouldn’t wanna play for thibs

  22. CornCobb890

    That 46.8% are the lazy bums not interested in playing defense. The Jordan poole’s of the league. Thibs isn’t interested in coaching you bums either. Metal bat mentality only.

  23. CTDubs0001

    And yet I can’t think of a time in the last 25 years of fandom I’ve heard any teams players speak as EC guy surely about their coach. Almost all these Knicks have said in some way how they respect Thibs.

  24. HumblyBrilliant

    It’s because he expects players to hustle and most players don’t want to try that hard.

  25. hyborians

    Obi Toppin was probably voted for Thibs 😂

  26. LIONEL14JESSE

    Honestly with how many new young coaches there are Thibs is just the guy with name recognition and a reputation for pushing players hard. If the players actually had a choice between him and whoever tf the Nets just hired they’re still going Thibs whatever this poll says.

  27. LetsGetSomeChickenn

    NY will never not be disrespcted. Josh Hart is gonna have something to say about this.

  28. sonid615

    77 votes cast means 36 players voted for Thibs.

  29. teknomatic

    Thibs is known for making his guys put in the work. This just tells me that there are players who don’t want to be pushed.

    Makes sense though. A lot of guys come into the league with people around them telling them they’re the man. And especially after leaving college, where the coach is the unquestioned authority, they want to be able to do what they want.

    Those kind of players don’t want a guy like Thibs who is gunna be on their ass about everything. They’d rather have a fizdale type coach.

  30. actually_JimCarrey

    guess 47% of players in the NBA dont wanna be on a 2 seed team

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