SAN ANTONIO — A season ago, Mikal Bridges led the league in total minutes played. Josh Hart was second. OG Anunoby was in the top 10. The three of them, as well as Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, all averaged at least 35 minutes a game.
When the Knicks lost to the Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals, part of the reason was that then-coach Tom Thibodeau had worn out their legs getting to that point, and he was slow to trust Landry Shamet and other players off the bench with serious minutes.
This season, Thibodeau was out, and Mike Brown was in and among his mandates was the need to grow and develop the Knicks' bench.
"It's a philosophy I had. One of the many things I learned from Pop [Gregg Popovich] and Steve [Kerr]," Brown said, referring to legends he was an assistant coach under. "Steve was really good at trying to play a lot of different guys...
"Then at the end of the day, I'm not a medical person, but just from what medical people say, if you can kind of control the minutes during the regular season, it helps them during the postseason. From people telling me that, I believe it. That's what I tried to do."
It worked. The Knicks bench — primarily Shamet, Miles McBride and Mitchell Robinson, but others in spots — have been a key part of why New York is not only back in the NBA Finals for the first time in 27 years. If there is a parade in Manhattan celebrating the team's first title in 53 years, that bench will play a huge role.
Not easy getting there
It does not mean it was all smooth sailing to get to this point.
Did Josh Hart see that bigger picture Brown was looking at when Hart sat glued to the bench for some clutch fourth quarters during the regular season?
"No, I definitely didn't see the bigger picture in those moments," Hart said. "There was moments I went home and I'm like, damn, am I ass? Do I suck as a basketball player? There was a lot of those moments. Whenever your minutes go down or you get benched, you have that thought process. But for me, it was, okay, how can I build off of it?"
Hart eventually came around.
"Now I'm cool with it, sometimes," he said. "Game 1 [of the Eastern Conference Finals] I got benched because Landry was out there hooping, and I was happy about it. But that took a little bit of time and self-reflection to get to that point."
The Knicks have developed a unity and a willingness to put ego and personal production aside for the greater good of the team. They support their teammates in a way not always seen around the league.
"Truthfully, with this team — I've said it a number of times — we've got a group that truly roots for each other, wants each other to succeed..." Landry Shamet said. "Look at our bench, different guys throughout the playoffs that have been inserted, have had to step up, play bigger roles in certain situations. There's a lot of reasons on paper where it would look like you could get a little bitter about so-and-so is taking so-and-so's minutes, whatever the case may be. Truthfully, this team, we have a special group where we all root for each other, know that job and role could look different for anybody any night... That's really cool and really unique to be a part of with this team."
Spurs bring same selflessness
Shamet recognizes that same selflessness in the Spurs, something their young, tight-knit core has talked about.
"They're obviously a very talented group, a deep group," Shamet said. "A lot of the same things I'm saying, can rely on a different guy every night off the bench to be a spark. We have to be ready for that, take our individual matchups seriously."
Maybe the best example in San Antonio is Keldon Johnson. Just three seasons ago, he was averaging 22 points a game and was the face of the franchise. But as the team drafted its young stars like Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper (and went out and got De'Aaron Fox in a trade), Johnson knew he had a choice to make.
"There's a point where you look in the mirror and ask, 'Do you want to be a part of something special, or do you want to chase personal goals?'" Johnson said. "Being here throughout this season and winning has been the ultimate reward. It just shows that everything was worth it.
"Obviously, I went from being 'the guy' to coming off the bench and being sixth man [he won Sixth Man of the Year this season]. I feel like winning is the most addictive thing in this league. This year is a testament to that, being able to win and contribute to us winning means more than anything that I've done in the past."
Whichever bench contributes more to winning in this series will have a big say in which team will hoist the Larry O'Brien Trophy when it's all over.
