Iman Shumpert reached the pinnacle of his career when he won the NBA championship in a key bench role with the legendary Cleveland Cavaliers. But the struggles he had faced right before, not a lot of fans know about.
From 2011 to 2015, Shumpert played for the New York Knicks. A team that was going in all directions at the time, in an Eastern Conference dominated by LeBron James’ Miami Heat. Shumpert was stuck trying to make a space for himself in the league as a point guard, and the Knicks were not helping at all.
“If I could tell my younger self something, I’d tell myself to be a diva. I should’ve thrown my hands up and down, like y’all need to trade me somewhere where I could play point guard. Don’t get me wrong, I feel like I still had a great career, I got to play on a championship team.” Shumpert revealed on a recent podcast visit.
“But I felt like on my personal development side, I suffered because every year I just had to conform to whatever they (Knicks) wanted me to be. ‘Iman could guard a four, let him play four, we’ll run small ball.’ I’m like, what? Bro, y’all dead serious? They like, **** they gonna put David West on you,” Shumpert, the 17th overall pick from the 2011 draft, added.
Shumpert was never able to shine through with the Knicks. He played 202 games for them over four years, but averaged only 7.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game. The only time he was actually playing notable basketball was during his rookie year, where he averaged 9.5 points per game and earned a spot on the NBA All-Rookie First Team.
When he went over to the Cavaliers, it wasn’t like he got to play point guard, given that they had Kyrie Irving and LeBron James. But his role was much more intentional and defined. He became a Three-and-D guy with the Cavaliers, and perimeter defense had always been his strong suit. So the Cavaliers were able to utilize his minutes much better, and he became a dependable rotational guy even through the 2017 season.
Other Notable Critics Of New York Knicks Management
Shumpert joins a small list of players and coaches who have expressed how the Knicks either mismanaged their exit, their trade, or the way their injury was diagnosed.
Original ‘Unicorn’ Kristaps Porzingis voiced his frustration with his exit from the Knicks, calling it a mess since he was given no prior information, and he was discussing recovery timelines and team culture with the management. He got so frustrated with how it was handled that he did not even attend the exit interviews.
In 1998, power forward/center Marcus Camby came to the New York Knicks in a draft-day trade. But after his exit in 2002, he would accuse the Knicks’ training staff of misdiagnosing his injury, which apparently led to him missing more games than he should’ve.
Larry Brown, the famous head coach, felt particularly frustrated during his time with the Knicks from 2005 to 2008. Stephon Marbury’s relationship with Knicks president Isaiah Thomas was a hindrance, which prevented him from coaching optimally.
