“The result handed New York a 3-1 series deficit, one loss short of elimination. Meanwhile, the decision not to play Toppin led to an out-of-character moment for the usually mild-mannered power forward”
“According to league sources who were present, once the final buzzer sounded Toppin aired his grievances to Thibodeau. The 24-year-old wants to play, and he wants to win. That evening, neither happened. An intense verbal altercation occurred between the player and coach as the group trekked to the Kaseya Center visiting locker room in Miami. It spilled into the postgame meeting once the doors closed.”
“On this occasion, as Toppin yelled at Thibodeau in front of teammates so fresh off a loss that they were still in uniform, assistant coach Rick Brunson stepped in to stand up for his boss. Toppin and Brunson got into it for a moment. Randle, Evan Fournier and Josh Hart next pulled Toppin aside to cool him off.”
It’s time for the Knicks to make a decision on where Obi Toppin fits into their future.
Story (which I includes a poll of 15 people who work in front offices about what Toppin could be worth in an extension) on a pivotal offseason for the power forward: https://t.co/JJ9eOvb3ac pic.twitter.com/zK99zI4qGb
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) June 21, 2023
by AlfredHampton88
34 Comments
Good for Obi. He deserves better
Katz got the green light to air out Obi yeah he’s gone, also you conveniently left this out:
> Toppin and Thibodeau met the next day to patch up things. The evening after that, the Knicks won Game 5. Toppin played his regular rotations and **played them well**. Life was back to normal, even if the Knicks fell a couple of nights later to end their season.
“Played them well” aka 2 points and 6 rebounds lol
Randle getting mad at teammates vs Obi getting mad at teammates
Flirting vs harassment meme
I want to say “free Obi” just so the narrative that guy X is being actively snubbed and suppressed can end, but I’m sure someone else will just fill those shoes. We got Cam, Frank… before that I remember people getting pissed because ~~some big dude~~ Kenny Wooten who downright stank didn’t get minutes.
Obi played like 8 minutes that game, almost as many turnovers as Randle had that night (6). I’m not saying Obi should start over Randle or take his minutes, but Obi is too good to not play at least 15-20 minutes a night. Especially when Randle was playing injured
He brings very little to the table when it comes to skill. No loss on our end.
Okay… I have some thoughts here…
From Obi’s perspective, I understand his frustration. He’s in year 3 and for seemingly forever now he’s essentially been forced to play a backup role and also play in a role that isn’t the best for him. He wants to drive to the rim, but Thibs and staff have seemingly tried to make him a stand in the corner and shoot 3s guy. I get the frustration there. He doesn’t play enough minutes and is being forced into a role he’s not best suited for.
On the other hand, while Obi’s had his moments over his 3 years here and has shown to be really good when given starter minutes when Randle’s out, he hasn’t shown enough consistently. He’s uber athletic, yet his finishing isn’t great, and worse off, his defense is not good. There were way too many times where Obi would be caught just looking at shooters and would close out far too late. Thibs really doesn’t like that, and that probably factored into why Obi was benched. Obi is also already 25, so are these kinks ever going to get fixed? Tough to say.
From the whole team’s perspective, game 4 vs. Miami was incredibly frustrating for everyone. We couldn’t get stops and we couldn’t hit anything. Someone blowing up like this isn’t surprising.
I don’t know what we do with Obi. The flashes are there but going into your 4th year + 26 years old season, you need more than flashes.
That button-pushing meme but it’s Jalen Brunson trying to decide whether to side with his teammate or his dad lol
Obi is the most awkward looking yet unbelievable athlete I’ve ever seen. He has zero graceful movements or twitch unless he’s flying in for a dunk. Looks so stiff on defense.
Anyhoo, he’s a likable fella and I hope he goes somewhere that can use his peculiar skill set.
I don’t disagree with what Obi did but it sounds like this coming out now means they’re going to move him to make him happy since he has value. Sadly he just doesn’t fit this team very well. He needs room to grow and he won’t find it in NY when there’s already a PF that’s playing 42 min + a game.
I can understand the frustration. Free Obi
The kid can ball but he can’t ball put with or for us 🙁
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Thibs has his guy in Julius.
I’m really curious as how to some ppl in the sub and fanbase reacts to this news. Will they understand Obi’s frustration and justify it? Or will they treat him how they treat Randle when he gets hot-heated/upset?? 😅
I hope this will show that shit like this can happen all the time to all players. All of these guys are passionate professionals and at times get heated. We see it all the time.
If you’re ok with Obi letting off steam and getting into it with teammates then you should be ok with others doing it as well (Randle included).
Hard to blame the guy after getting no leash and his confidence beat to shit as a result. He’s been shoved in the corner to chuck 3s for years and that’s about as far from Obi’s actual skillset/playstyle as possible.
He’s been professional and super patient about everything publicly. Can’t be surprised he finally stood up for himself.
The front office doesn’t and shouldn’t care if Obi is pissed at the organization. He’s not a star and has no leverage. If a good deal comes along, sure he can be traded, but let’s not dump him for some shit Indiana pick just because he’s mad
Not even hindsight imo, but we really should’ve drafted Hali, we would be in such a better position imo.
Don’t really care. Makes sense he’s frustrated, and also makes sense he doesn’t play much with Randle here. It’s a situation the FO needs to fix with a trade this off-season. Should have happened awhile ago tbh.
Crazy a borderline nba player is yelling at a proven coach
The big confusion is just not giving him chances to score. To have pick and rolls and not just go to the 3. To feed him in the post. Smalls things like that should be used.
It’s unfortunate but when your struggling signee suddenly becomes an all NBA talent, yeah you’re not going to get the major opportunity in any situation. I’d still like to keep him and utilize him more in the offense but a lot of signs are pointing towards him leaving.
Power forwards vs. coaching staff the sequel: no iPads, no playtime.
But in all seriousness, glad to see Randle as one of the defusers, jHart and EF as well.
Wishing Obi well and I get the frustration…but getting into it with the star player’s dad is a problem (even if those two do have a relationship, Obi worked with Rick prior to the draft IIRC). We heard rumbles at the start of the year from IQ’s camp mostly that there was some luck that IQ/Obi are professionals in the way their careers have been managed, IQ showed and proved, Obi didn’t have as many opportunities to do the same but he didn’t shine like that here for many reasons.
Happy trails Obi-1, thanks for the eastbays.
And worth adding:
The disagreement did not infect the Knicks’ culture. In fact, on the evening it happened, a league source told The Athletic that he believed it was more likely the fracas would give players a jolt after a spiritless loss.
Toppin and Thibodeau met the next day to patch up things. The evening after that, the Knicks won Game 5. Toppin played his regular rotations and played them well. Life was back to normal, even if the Knicks fell a couple ring resentment. Sometimes, competitive people get competitive.
As much as we’ve talked about culture, and guys blowing up, they seem to move on and keep it together, a good thing.
Get toppin out of here he isnt good not even a top 150 player in the league
I get the frustration but he hasn’t really showed much on a consistent basis to warrant more playing time. He’s a big that has zero defensive or rebounding skills aside from jumping high and being athletic. Yeah, he’s not ideally a spot up shooter but adding that to his repertoire doesn’t hurt. What does hurt is getting absolutely lost on defensive rotations and giving away rebounds to people 5-6 inches shorter on a routine basis.
He doesn’t consistently make his own shots either. I have nothing against him and wish him the best, but I’m okay if he leaves or if he stays- I just want to see some damn consistency from him.
Thibs weird vendetta against Obi is really sad at this point. I’m going to root for him at his next team, forlornly remembering what it was like to see an actual fast break.
When was this during the game or is this the yelling match they talked about
“Did you see Julius Randle’s body language while Obi went after his coach tho!?!? Crazy, that dude is not a winner.”
Would you free this man already?
I support him getting himself traded. Just because he hasn’t been successful under Thibs doesn’t mean he won’t be elsewhere.
The smear has begun. Bye, Obi!
I want obi to get traded and the opportunity to play somewhere that he is able to play his game. It’s just a waste having obi sit in the corner waiting to shoot a three.
Good shit Obi. I like this fire.
Knicks fans: we need shooting!!!
Knicks fans when Thibs tries to develop Obi’s shot so he can do something besides flashy dunks: no no not like that!
I love the Knicks. I love Obi. Understand his frustration but tbh he really needs to make himself indispensable if he wants more minutes.
He’s not a better player than Julius, Mitch or Hartenstein right now but it’s not inconceivable that he could challenge Hartenstein and steal minutes from him at Center IF he improves his defense and rebounding.
I think he made an incremental improvement on both those since he was drafted, but he needs to take another leap there.
Can he? Idk, but baring that there’s not much room for a larger role on the team as it’s currently constructed. Whatever the case, I hope he and the team both figure it out and we come up with a solution that works for everyone.
I keep saying comments saying they are forcing Obi the corner to shoot 3s. I’ve seen no evidence that this is Thibs doing. Obi doesn’t cut, drive the basket, crash the boards or play sound defense. Yet somehow this is Thibs fault?
Is there something I missed forcing Obi to shoot all these 3s?
Breaks my heart to this day they didn’t take Haliburton