The New York Knicks are one of the most talented teams in the NBA. Very few people would try to argue against that statement.

Simply looking at the roster, the Knicks should be a championship contender.

At this point in the season, New York holds a 27-16 record. They have been a good team, but they haven’t been great. Quite a few things need some work and there is a lot of speculation that the Knicks could look to make a move or two ahead of the upcoming NBA trade deadline.

That being said, there are also some major concerns to keep an eye on.

NBA legend Kevin Garnett sees one glaring issue that could hurt the team later on in the year. In fact, it’s the same issue that many believe ended up causing the team to struggle in the playoffs last year.

During a segment of his podcast, “Ticket & The Truth,” Garnett opened up about his concerns surrounding head coach Tom Thibodeau playing his starters too many minutes.

“At some point, you got staff, you got assistants, you got a GM, you got presidents [who should tell Thibodeau to stop playing the starters so much],” Garnett said. “And, it’s a data league, bro. Data is probably telling you, ‘Hey, the starting 5 is playing way more minutes than the average starting 5 in the league.’ So I’m sure he’s heard this. It goes back to what Paul just said, [Thibodeau] is so stuck in his ways and he knows how to win one way, man.”

Garnett also suggested that the team’s stars, Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, should step up and say something to Thibodeau.

“On top of that, no one has told Thibs – including the players. If I’m Karl-Anthony Towns or I’m (Jalen Brunson), I’m pulling Thibs in the room and I’m saying, ‘Listen.’ It’s a players league, they can get this off. Thibs so stubborn, though, that I don’t know. But it’s going to have to be something. Because you can’t go up against the Bostons, the Clevelands and not have a bench,” Garnett said.

Looking back at last season, New York fell apart from an injury perspective in the playoffs. Key pieces started falling left and right and missing time. Others tried to play through injuries and were less effective.

This has been an issue with Thibodeau-led teams. He loves to play his best players excessive amounts of minutes. Unfortunately, teams usually end up paying the price for that strategy.

All of that being said, Garnett is on to something. Perhaps Brunson and Towns do need to step up and say something to their head coach.

Only time will tell, but Thibodeau and the Knicks are playing with fire once again this season.

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