Michael Beasley came into the NBA with all the hype a No. 2 pick deserves, but despite the promise, his career never took off the way many expected. He bounced around the league and never found the consistency to emerge as the star many hoped he’d become.
That being said, Beasley’s time with the New York Knicks in the 2017-18 NBA season showcased his potential to be a valuable contributor. During his one-year stint with the team, he put up 13.2 points per game on 50.7% shooting, his best scoring season in years, and played 74 games, his highest total since 2013.
Obviously, Beasley’s contributions weren’t enough to mask the lousy team that the Knicks were, and their losing display continued to be the bigger storyline that season. However, Beasley has now revealed an interesting detail about his short stint with the team.
According to the former NBA journeyman, he was playing out of position the whole time. And, in a statement sure to raise some eyebrows, Beasley claimed he could’ve led the Knicks to the playoffs if he had been used properly.
“With Porzingis, Tim Hardaway, and Courtney Lee, I could’ve made that a playoff team. I was playing out of position. If they had played me at 2 guard, fronted with Jarrett Jack, I would’ve been better… I’ve been playing out of position my whole career. You play me at the 1, 2, or 3, I’m bigger. I’m better on defense. Now I had somebody to play pick and roll with. I could’ve run a great pick-and-roll game with Kyle O’Quinn and Kristaps Porzingis. But Jeff (Hornacek) was on the hot seat, and Porzingis didn’t really know how to play good basketball. I was just playing basketball, so that situation was trash, man.”
Michael Beasley says he could’ve taken the Knicks to the playoffs if they hadn’t played him out of position
“With Porzingis, Tim Hardaway, and Courtney Lee, I could’ve made that a playoff team. I was playing out of position. If they had played me at 2 guard, fronted with Jarrett… pic.twitter.com/o9jvxWTRUI
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) September 24, 2024
