Pray For OG Anunoby

The New York Knicks traded RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley to Toronto for OG Anunoby. He made his debut on New Year’s Day and was vital in New York’s victory over the no. 1 seeded Minnesota Timberwolves.

Here’s what OG did in his first day wearing a Knicks jersey:

35 minutes
17 points
7-for-12 from the field (58%)
3-for-6 from 3 (50%)
6 rebounds
2 steals
fouled out
+19 +/-

Knicks got the W in OG Anunoby’s debut 💪

OG: 17 PTS, 6 REB pic.twitter.com/xpi93ehLT7

— NBA (@NBA) January 1, 2024

But after watching OG play for Tom Thibodeau only once, I immediately began to fear for his life. This isn’t the first time Thomas has had his hands on a guy like Anunoby…

When Tom Thibodeau almost killed Luol Deng

In 2010, Tom Thibodeau took over the head coaching duties of the Chicago Bulls. It was Thibs’s first head coaching job ever. He won Coach of the Year and led the Bulls to 62 wins. It was Chicago’s first 50+ win season since the Michael Jordan era.

The team was built around Derrick Rose but it was very clear Luol Deng was Thibs’s guy. Much like OG Anunoby, Luol Deng was a big wing who was British by way of Africa who prided himself in his on-ball defense and made smart cuts off the ball offensively while being a catch-and-shoot threat when the star guard drives and kicks it out to him.

Luol Deng was 3rd in minutes the year Thibs arrived in Chicago.

Deng was responsible for locking up the best scorers on a nightly basis while also playing around 40 minutes a night. Every single night.

But Luol was a victim. In 2012, he suffered a wrist injury but elected not to get surgery when he absolutely needed to get surgery but he didn’t want to miss the season. I’m not going to directly blame Thibs for this but if you work in an environment where you feel like you can’t miss a single day then your boss is putting far too much pressure on you.

Use all your sick days, man.

And that refusal to use his sick days nearly killed him.

In the 2013 playoffs, Luol Deng felt sick and continued playing 40+ minutes a night despite suffering from an illness. Eventually, Deng finally told the Bulls he was sick which resulted in him being diagnosed with meningitis and needing a fucking SPINAL TAP. And the spinal tap went wrong as his body rejected the procedure and he was on his deathbed.

Turns out, he never had meningitis to begin with and simply had a cold but I imagine that cold felt like the end of the world for a guy who had to play postseason basketball for coach Thibs.

Will OG Anunoby survive Thibs?

Here’s what Anunoby did guarding Anthony Edwards on Monday:

Per NBA tracking data,

OG Anunoby has been the primary defender on Anthony Edwards for 68 possessions (13:12 matchup minutes) – and in those 68 obsessions Edwards is:

4-of-14 from the field (28.6%)
3 turnovers vs. zero assists

— Tommy Beer (@TommyBeer) January 2, 2024

OG is going to spend a lottttt of defensive possessions guarding the best players on opposing teams. He’s also running around cutting left and right on offense all game long too. Plus, Thibs likes to get his rotations short so Anunoby is essentially tasked with playing both RJ Barrett’s and Immanuel Quickley’s minutes.

Let’s all enjoy OG before Thibs turns him into a vegetable.