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The results of the annual general managers preseason survey are in, and unsurprisingly, the New York Knicks did not fare well in the voting. Head coach Tom Thibodeau was asked to comment on the result, and for his part, the veteran coach pretty much discredited the concept of the survey itself.
For what it's worth, Knicks rookie Obi Toppin received the third-most votes as a potential Rookie of the Year winner, behind LaMelo Ball of the Charlotte Hornets and James Wiseman of the Golden State Warriors. For coach Thibodeau, however, he believes that it simply shouldn't mean anything:
Article Continues Below“Like those polls and predictions, they’re pretty much meaningless. I just want (Toppin) to continue to approach it the way he has – come in every day, work as hard as you can, try to improve each and every day,” the Knicks tactician said, via Stefan Bondy of the Daily News. “Oftentimes it’s small incremental steps that a player takes and that’s the way I want him to approach it. Then he looks back and sees he’s made a quantum leap. But I think the important thing usually players are recognized when the team has success. I think we saw that with RJ last year. So focus on the team. His development is important. We’ll work with him each and every day. But also how he impacts winning is equally important if not more so.”
Thibs did not only say that he thinks the survey is useless, but he also reiterated the need to prioritize the team's success over personal accolades.
The former Chicago Bulls coach was also voted fifth in the survey in the “new coach who will make the biggest impact” category. Needless to say, he likely couldn't care less about this as well as his focus remains on the Knicks' success.
