"Gotta Keep Himself Ready": Mike Brown Talks About Guerschon Yabusele's Limited Minutes
Nov 4, 2025
Ever since the 2024 Olympics, fans have kept an eye on athletic French sensation Guerschon Yabusele. This season, Yabusele signed with the New York Knicks, but his first few games with the storied franchise have been far from ideal.
At a recent media availability, Knicks head coach Mike Brown was asked about Yabusele’s limited playing time at the start of the season. Brown quickly dismissed the notion that the scant minutes have anything to do with Yabusele’s performance or even health.
“It’s me. I probably play 10 guys, but it’s more like nine and a half. So there’s gonna be somebody that has the half,” Brown explained. “I got minutes for him, but not a ton.”
On the one hand, Brown’s rotations have turned out to be somewhat longer than those of his predecessor Tom Thibodeau, who was notorious for using just seven or eight players per game. On the other hand, Brown (just like all other NBA coaches) isn’t keen on evenly spreading out minutes for several players, preferring instead to give longer playing time to the Knicks’ key rotation guys.
At this point, it’s clear that Yabusele is far from earning the trust afforded to the likes of Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart. Still, Brown is adamant about what the Frenchman needs to do on a nightly basis.
“It was my call, but Guesrch has played well. He’s gotta keep himself ready because he’s going to continue to get minutes,” the Knicks head coach added.
After averaging 11.0 ppg, 5.6 rpg, and 2.1 apg last season with the Philadelphia 76ers, Yabusele has chipped in just 1.6 points and 3.0 rebounds in five games thus far with New York. Of course, his playing time has to be factored into this comparison: Nick Nurse gave him around 27.1 minutes per game in Philly, while he’s averaging just 9.4 minutes in his Knicks stint.
It’s a long season to go and, if Yabusele stays in the Big Apple for the entirety of the 2025-26 campaign, he could find some more opportunities to showcase his talents under Brown’s watch. For the high-flying competitor who dunked on LeBron James in Paris last year, there’s time left to establish himself as a vital piece of the Knicks rotation.
