NBA insider prophecies doom for Tom Thibodeau's Knicks after Mikal Bridges makes feelings clear on playing too many minutes

Year in and year out, Tom Thibodeau draws the same criticism.

While most NBA fans and analysts acknowledge that he's one of the best coaches in the league and praise his defensive expertise, he has a history of playing his starters too many minutes.

We saw it happen when Derrick Rose suffered that career-altering injury, and we've seen several of his former players, like Jimmy Butler, struggle with chronic injuries after playing for him.

That's why ESPN's Stephen A. Smith believes the New York Knicks coach is under heavy fire. Talking on "First Take" on Thursday, he talked about Thibodeau wearing his starters down:

"Tom Thibodeau is in a world of trouble. I don't give a damn that the New York Knicks are 6-1 in overtime games," Smith said.

Smith then talked about Mikal Bridges' claim that he reached out to coach Thibodeau to urge him to play the starters for fewer minutes:

"And here's where Bridges has his credibility. He's one of the Iron Mans of the league; he's always playing," Smith said. "He doesn't miss games, and he doesn't play minimal minutes."

Bridges has never missed a game in his NBA career and he even played 83 regular-season games when he was traded to the Brooklyn Nets.

Smith argued that with all the Knicks gave up to get Bridges, it's not a good sign to have him pleading to the coach about heavy minutes.

Mikal Bridges trusts the Knicks' bench

When asked about his conversation with Thibodeau on Wednesday, Bridges talked about his teammates and how they were more than capable of holding down the fort:

"We’ve got a lot of good guys on this team that can take away the minutes, which helps the defense, helps the offense, helps tired bodies being out there and giving up all these points. It helps us keeping fresh bodies out there," Bridges said.

Coach Thibodeau, on the other hand, brushed off the criticism and even denied ever having that talk with his star guard/forward.

Jalen Brunson is out with an injury and he was visibly worn out and banged up in the playoffs last season.

The Knicks have a much better supporting cast around him now, but given how Thibodeau's teams have fared in the past late in the season, it's easy to understand why Bridges and some fans might be worried right now.