There are some who feel that New York Knicks rookie RJ Barret might be playing too many minutes, but head coach David Fizdale and former NBA point guard Damon Stoudamire are not among them.

Barrett, who the Knicks selected with the No. 3 overall pick in this year's draft, logged over 40 minutes in Sunday night's 21-point loss to the Sacramento Kings. The 19-year-old racked up 22 points on 8-of-20 shooting from the field (1-of-5 from beyond the arc), five rebounds, three assists and one block. It wasn't enough, though, as the Kings carried the day in convincing fashion, 113-92.

As ESPN's Ian Begley notes in his recent post, Barrett is averaging 37 minutes per game through the early stages of this season. Both Barrett and Fizdale have dismissed the idea that the workload should be lessened. Stoudamire, who points out that he averaged 40 minutes as a rookie, agrees:

Barrett has played well through his first seven games with the Knicks. The former Duke Blue Devil has turned in averages of 18.3 points on 43.4 percent shooting (35.7 percent from downtown), 6.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.3 steals in 37.1 minutes per outing. He seems to be handling the task well, so it's hard to say whether or not his minutes should be cut.

Fizdale was clearly frustrated with this criticism:

“We got to get off this load-management crap,” a surly Fizdale said, via the New York Post. “Latrell Sprewell averaged 42 minutes for a season. This kid is 19. Drop it already.”

Barrett and the Knicks fell to 1-6 with Sunday's loss. They'll be back in action on Wednesday night, as they're scheduled for a matchup against the Detroit Pistons. Tip-off inside Little Caesars Arena is set for 7:00 p.m. ET.