Former New York Knicks coach and ESPN color commentator Jeff Van Gundy came down hard on those who criticized coach David Fizdale for playing rookie RJ Barrett heavy minutes in a recent blowout loss to the Sacramento Kings.

Barrett played upward of 40 minutes in a game that was already way out of hand in the fourth quarter, something Knicks fans and pundits saw as dangerous and non-productive. Not for Van Gundy, though …

“That’s what it is, the wussification of the league,” Van Gundy told Frank Isola of The Athletic. “And it’s hurting the product. Has anyone stopped to consider that maybe by playing Barrett a lot of minutes David Fizdale is advancing Barrett’s career forward? Is there anyone who really believes that the way you get better is by not playing and by not practicing?’ It’s crazy to me.”

Van Gundy is right with a list of former NBA coaches who have been used to putting their high-round picks to work with a heavy workload. While the miles on their legs did not matter in the '80s and '90s, the game has become more athletic and fast-paced than ever, leading to more injuries and fatigue.

Barrett is going from a 37-game collegiate season to a full-fledged 82-game schedule with travel across the country and even out of it.

Fizdale was harsh when asked about limiting Barrett's minutes:

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

Spree did average 43.1 minutes per game in his second year in the league as a member of the Golden State Warriors, all while playing all 82 games, but these are outlier examples that are by no means the reflection of modern-day professional basketball and the record of maladies that have stemmed from heavy and unnecessary usage.