"You chose to do it for a living" - Cam'Ron goes off on Mikal Bridges for claiming to be tired of Tom Thibodeau’s extended minutes

Sports talk show host and rapper Cam'Ron has always been vocal with his views and didn't hold back when discussing Mikal Bridges and the New York Knicks' latest conflict.

Bridges' recent comments, followed by Josh Hart and Tom Thibodeau's back-and-forth courtside exchange, has led to serious questions about the Knicks style of play and their rotation policy. Thibodeau's experience as an NBA coach dates back to 1989, and he is known to work his players hard and demand a lot out of them.

On this occasion, New York native and basketball fan Cam'Ron seemed to side with the Knicks coach, and questioned Bridges' recent comments surrounding minutes and fatigue. Cam'Ron said (58:20):

"How are you tired and this is what you chose to do for a living? I can't speak for Josh Hart or Mikal Bridges but nine out of 10 times, when you're a professional athlete you've been doing this since you were seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12 years old."

Cam'Ron was speaking on the latest episode of the "It Is What It Is" show that was released on Wednesday. The rapper was direct and candid with his views on the subject and asked why NBA players from previous generations were able to compete for more minutes over 82 games year after year.

"They ain't changes the minutes, they didn't change the games a year," Cam'Ron said. "And to be honest with you, it's less brutal ... I don't get it."

Cam'Ron went on to say that NBA players should be pushing themselves harder, especially considering how much they are paid.

Mikal Bridges says he spoke to Tom Thibodeau about Knicks starters' minutes

New York Knicks forward Mikal Bridges looks to pass the ball against the Miami Heat at Madison Square Garden. Photo Credit: Imagn

According to a recent piece from the New York Post, Mikal Bridges said he spoke to Tom Thibodeau about playing the starters less:

"Sometimes it’s not fun on the body. But you want that as a coach, and also talked to him a little bit knowing that we’ve got a good enough team where our bench guys can come in and we don’t need to play 48, 47.

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

Thibodeau later denied the claim that Bridges had that conversation with him.

Despite criticism from analysts around the country, Thibodeau has stuck to his strategy of playing his starters for the majority of the game. He has also been slammed for leaving his starters in late in the fourth quarter when his team holds a substantial lead.

Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart currently leads the NBA in minutes per game with an average of 37.8 minutes per game. Knicks guard Jalen Brunson ranks 17th with 35.4 mpg and Karl-Anthony Towns is just behind him at 35.0 mpg.