Donte DiVincenzo was traded to the Timberwolves as part of the package with Julius Randle that brought Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks. But before that, he was a fan-favorite in New York.
According to several sources, there was a rift between the Knicks and DiVincenzo regarding his reduced role upon Mikal Bridges’ acquisition that may have eventually led to his inclusion in the trade for Towns.
But, now, Fred Katz, a senior writer at The Athletic, clears the air that DiVincenzo loves Tom Thibodeau, equivalent to or even more than how much most of us love our parents. He claims that DiVincenzo even revered Thibodeau to a level that he was willing to fight his new teammates to avoid any disrespect of Tom Thibodeau.
In a recent interview on The Ringer NBA Show, Katz narrated what happened behind the scenes in the Timberwolves locker room when Tom Thibodeau was among the coaches under consideration to be the worst coach in the NBA, as per an anonymous player poll.
“It’s so funny to me that Donte, Rick Brunson, and Thibs all had their thing in the preseason game earlier last year that was such a thing. [People said] ‘Oh, Donte’s pissed at Thibs.’ Man, Donte DiVincenzo loves Thibs more than either of us loves our own mothers. It’s crazy how much DiVincenzo loves Thibs,” said Katz to the interviewer, Wosny Lambre.
“Every year, The Athletic does an anonymous player poll, and one of the questions always is ‘Which coach would you least like to play for?’ And this year we changed the question to, ‘Who do you think is the worst coach?’”
Tom Thibodeau is famous for making his players work extensively hard by restricting their rotations in the game. Hence, he was the common favorite across the league to lead that poll of the coaches’ players least want to play under.
“When it was [the earlier version of the question], Thibs would win that poll. So apparently, this year when the Minnesota players were filling the poll when Donte was already on Minnesota, Donte would follow around the reporters who would take the answers.”
“And when it got to the coach question, Donte would be like, ‘You mother****er. You better not say Tom Thibodeau, he’s the fu**ing best.’ Like he was gatekeeping Thibs like that guy loves Thibs.”
DiVincenzo played only one season with the Knicks, where they reached the second round of the Playoffs (2023-24). He averaged 15.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 2.7 assists in his time there, but his peak Knicks moment will always be the game-winner against the 76ers in the first round that season.
Donte DiVincenzo and Rick Brunson had a brief but intense altercation following a preseason game in October 2024, during which DiVincenzo was trash-talking towards the Knicks bench. Rick Brunson called DiVincenzo’s behavior “s**ker s**t” and confronted him.
LEAKED Audio Of Rick Brunson Getting Heated At Donte DiVincenzo Post-Game👀:
Brunson: “Donte, that was some sucker sh*t”
Donte: “You were talking to me”
Brunson: “Imma let you live, brother”
Donte: “I was talking to Thibs.. you wanna bring it out here for the camera” pic.twitter.com/nhKBZXYYsv
— LegendZ (@legendz_prod) October 15, 2024
“I was speaking to coach Tom Thibodeau, not Rick,” DiVincenzo responded. After the incident, both men played it down and emphasized how close they were as family.
Rick Brunson’s son, Jalen Brunson, and Divincenzo are very close friends who both eventually clarified that this incident was not as bad as it seemed to be initially. But to this day, it is a mystery as to why DiVincenzo was included.
He broke the franchise record for most threes in a single season and was going to play alongside his college teammates from Villanova, with whom he won two NCAA championships. If DiVincenzo were still on the Knicks, they would be true championship contenders for the coming season.
