Bright lights. Big stage. Ball in your hands.
It’s the dream every kid has — and for Tyler Kolek, it’s arrived far sooner than anyone expected.
When the Knicks drafted Kolek 34th overall out of Marquette last summer, the plan wasn’t for him to play. Jalen Brunson was locked in as the starter. Miles McBride had blossomed into a Sixth Man. Cameron Payne brought veteran pop off the bench. Kolek’s job? Stay ready. Learn. Wait.
But in the NBA, plans change fast.
Brunson suffered a high-grade ankle sprain in overtime against the Lakers on March 6. McBride, just as he was hitting his stride defensively in the starting unit, went down with a groin contusion.
Suddenly, the Knicks needed a floor general. And now, with the regular season winding down and playoff seeding hanging in the balance, Payne can’t carry the load alone.
Which means the ball will be in Kolek’s hands — and at some level, so will the fate of the Knicks’ season.
“When you’ve got guys out and [other] guys step up, that gives you extreme confidence in those guys and in the flow of the team,” Josh Hart said. “That’s what the NBA season is. It’s guys staying ready, and when they get their opportunity — seizing it.”
Kolek now has a chance to do just that.
ADVICE FROM THE HARTJosh Hart learned this lesson from well-known Lakers player-turned-coach Brian Shaw: If you stay ready, you don’t have to get ready. Too many of his peers weren’t ready enough.
“I’m not sure how many times you see it in the course of an NBA season. Guys not playing, and then their mind floats, and then the opportunity comes, and they’re not ready for it,” Hart says. “So [Tyler] stayed ready.”
Kolek has been preparing for this moment his whole life. A massive shift in role doesn’t mean a shift in mindset.
Two-a-day workouts. Extra conditioning. Late-night film. Staying ready isn’t a motto for the Marquette product — it’s a way of life.
“My whole life I feel like I’ve had this anxiety of if ‘I’m not doing enough, I’m not getting better,’” Kolek said. “So I have a good parameter of: Am I doing enough? Am I getting better? … I’m gonna be 24 this week. So I’ve been doing it for a while now. Staying in the gym, staying consistent in my routine — it’s important to me.”
What changes now? Nothing physically, that’s for sure. Kolek is going to go through his same pre-game routine — “my basketball preparation is gonna be what it is: just staying in the gym,” he says — but these emotions are different.
It’s not a yes or no to minutes. It’s how many? And it’s not in Westchester. It’s at Madison Square Garden.
“I feel like it’s more mental than anything,” Kolek says. “Mentally getting up and getting ready for the games is definitely different. You’ve always gotta be ready, but you have that anticipation knowing you’re gonna get a couple minutes.”
Kolek has been doing the work, even if the opportunity never came.
It’s here, now, and his work is showing.
“He stayed ready, stayed working, and when he got his opportunity, he was able to go out and execute,” Hart said. “He’s continuing to put the work in knowing that we’re going to call on him a little bit more.”
FLOOR GENERAL
Kolek’s vision has never been in question.
He dropped eight assists against the Wizards on Saturday, including seven in the second quarter — the most by any Knicks player in a single quarter this season not named Brunson. At Marquette, he once dished 18 assists in 26 minutes — still a program record.
“In college, I was always hunting [assists],” Kolek said, laughing. “I’d get an assist and look right back at the scoreboard. If they didn’t give it to me, I’d point at the SID like, ‘You better count that s–t!’”
The Knicks, still searching for offensive rhythm without Brunson, need someone who can organize the floor. Kolek can help do that.
He offers a different look than McBride — a defensive pest who thrives off-ball — and a contrasting style to Payne, a score-first burst of energy.
“Cam and Tyler, everyone knows they’re capable. They’re great players,” said OG Anunoby. “They do a great job controlling the pace, setting us up.”
Kolek’s also leaned on Payne for guidance. The message: change the game.
“If it’s going one way, flip it,” Kolek said.
Right now, things are going the wrong way in New York. A pair of disappointing losses to bottom-four opponents (San Antonio, Charlotte) plus a near-disaster against the league-worst Wizards underscored just how badly the Knicks miss Brunson’s stabilizing presence.
Kolek has a chance to flip the script.
Brunson is progressing but has yet to return to full team practice. He’s expected to miss more time — and if he doesn’t appear in at least four of the final 12 games, he’ll be ineligible for All-NBA honors.
“So that [practice] would be the next step for him probably,” Tom Thibodeau told reporters Monday. “But [he’s] doing a lot of shooting, work in the pool, work on the bike, stuff like that. His conditioning is pretty good actually.”
Until McBride returns — and groin injuries tend to linger — Kolek is the next guard up.
The rookie knew he was growing before Saturday’s stat line told the story.
“I feel like I’m getting better every time I’m in the gym,” he said. “There are things I want to improve on, and even if people don’t see it on the court yet, I know I’m working on them. So it’s all within myself, within my team.
He credited Knicks player development coach Jordan Brink for helping him stay locked in.
The work is paying off.
Now it’s about how far the work can carry him — and a Knicks team suddenly leaning on its rookie point guard for real minutes on a real stage.
Bright lights.
Big stage.
Ball in your hands.
It’s every kid’s dream — and for Tyler Kolek, the dream is now real.
