Evan Fournier rips Knicks, Tom Thibodeau: 'You want to spit on everyone'
Evan Fournier’s days with the Knicks are likely numbered, and he is not too pleased with how it reached this point.
The veteran guard, who appeared in just 27 games last season, vented his frustrations in an interview with French media outlet, L’Equipe, in which he blasted the organization and head coach Tom Thibodeau for his diminished role.
“You want to spit on everyone. You have hatred,” Fournier said. “Derrick Rose and I looked at each and said to each other: ‘What the hell are we doing here?’ During the five-on-five practice, we were on the side like some prospects. Uncool times. And when I realized that wouldn’t change, I took things more slowly. I focused on myself and didn’t let the rest get to me anymore.”
Fournier likened his situation to a character from the Japanese anime show "Dragon Ball Z."
“Do you know Dragon Ball Z? When the hero Goku finds himself on planet Namek, injured, in a regeneration capsule?” he asked the interviewer. “I had this image in my head all year, every practice.
“I practiced like it was the off-season. I ran a lot. I tried to progress. I’ve never been so strong. But that doesn’t necessarily transfer to your feelings and your game. I need to find my rhythm playing one-on-one [then against the] opposition. When I realized that I was no longer going to play, I radically changed my way of working.”
The 30-year-old appeared in the first 13 games of the season for the Knicks, averaging 20 minutes per game, but was relegated to the bench as Thibodeau searched for answers for a struggling team.
Fournier did not appreciate how Thibodeau reached his decision so quickly and has no relationship with the head coach.
“I have nothing to say [to Thibodeau] because I have none,” Fournier said. “When he took me out of the [starting] five, he just told me he was going to try something else. Then at the first match of a road trip, he announced to me that I was leaving the rotation, ciao.”
Fournier is still under contract with the Knicks for next season and owed $18 million but the veteran guard does not expect to be back with the team.
“I would be very surprised to be a Knick next year,” he said. “They pay me $18 million, they have no interest in keeping me. If you want to trade me with a good return, why didn’t you use me?
“I was coming out of a season where I was the fourth-best 3-point shooter in the league. Why not take advantage of it? Now they won’t get anything interesting and that’s normal because I couldn’t show anything.”
The Knicks do have a team option they can use with Fournier following the 2023-24 season, but Fournier believes if he is not traded it would be disastrous for his career.
“I’m going to be traded, it’s not possible otherwise,” he said. “Or I’d be stuck, and so would they. They have several players with big contracts coming in. Unless they want to pay a crazy luxury tax… If I stayed, it would be a disaster basketball-wise for my career. I can manage a year without playing. Two… that would be terrible.”
