Michael Beasley reflects on missed chance to lead Knicks to playoffs, says ‘I was playing out of position’ – thesportstak

Roles play an important part in a player’s career development when it comes to the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the same was the case with Michael Beasley. While talking on ‘Club 520 Podcast’, Beasley mentioned that things could have been very different if he had been allotted a role by the New York Knicks. The role that he was offered didn’t play out in his favour.

What did Michael Beasley have to say about his role at New York Knicks?

The New York Knicks signed Michael Beasley back on August 8th, 2017. He played an overall 74 games for the team that season. He scored 13.2 points (50.7% shooting that included 39.5% beyond the arc) and had 5.6 rebounds per game to his name. The team had players who were designated different roles with the face of the squad being Kristaps Porzingis.

“With Porzingis, Tim Hardaway, and Courtney Lee, I could’ve made that a playoff team. I was playing out of position. … I could’ve run a great pick-and-roll game with Kyle O’Quinn and Kristaps Porzingis. … But Jeff [Hornaceck] was on the hot seat and Porzingis didn’t really know how to play basketball,” Beasley said.

“I was just playing basketball, so that situation was trash, man,” Beasley added.

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Porzingis was not at the level he used to be while playing for the Washington Wizards and Boston Celtics. He was still looking at how to hone his skills and the same can be said for the other players of the team as well. One more factor that Beasley shed light on was the fact that the coaching was also a problem.

Roles are something that can make or break the career of any NBA player. Not every athlete has the power to adapt to the responsibilities thrown at him. Beasley felt confident that while playing for the New York Knicks, he could have transformed the squad into a playoff team with the help of his skills.

I really wanted to stay in New York: Michael Beasley

During an interview with HoopsHype on January 24th, 2022, Beasley revealed that he wanted to be a part of the New York Knicks and said, “New York hurt my feelings so badly. I really wanted to stay in New York for the rest of my career. … They wanted me to come back on a veteran minimum deal. I was like, that’s not fair. At least give me $1 million more. While we were negotiating, they signed Mario Hezonja. … they gave him the contract I asked for …”

The value of his contract then had some disagreements. Beasley argued that he deserved the asking price he pitched to the main office. However, after the signing of Mario Hezonja, all doors were closed for a contract extension. Beasley then took his talents over to the Los Angeles Lakers for one season before hanging up his boots. 

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