Obi Toppin ready to move on from Knicks, make most of new chance with Pacers
Obi Toppin of the Knicks against the Washington Wizards at Madison Square Garden earlier this year. Credit: Errol Anderson
LAS VEGAS — Obi Toppin arrived at Thomas and Mack Center at halftime of the Pacers’ Summer League game on Saturday afternoon. He passed on the opportunity to venture into the nearby Cox Center gym to see the Knicks, instead taking a seat courtside beside a nearly full roster of his new Indiana teammates.
If that image didn’t convince you that Toppin had put New York in his rearview mirror, you only had to listen to him on a Zoom call Sunday morning.
He shrugged off nearly every question about his three seasons in New York, his frustrating ending there and what had gone wrong to take him from the first lottery pick made by the Knicks’ current front office to being sent away for a pair of far-off-in-the-future second-round draft picks.
The closest Toppin came to opening up about the frustration came when he was asked if things could have gone differently. “All I can do is just do whatever the coach is asking me to do,” he said of his time playing for Tom Thibodeau. “Whether that’s being out on the floor, having great energy, doing whatever I need to do to help the team win. I didn’t get the minutes I wanted. But now it’s a new start. I’m here in Indy. I got to work for everything I want. And I’m super-excited to start.”
The fan favorite rarely got a chance to show more than the highlight-reel dunks as a Knick.
“I had a great time with the Knicks,” said Toppin, who was dealt to Indiana in a trade made official Friday. “Obviously, it’s been a dream to have the opportunity to play at MSG and put that Knicks jersey on. But there were great players there, great coaches. Everybody was amazing there. But definitely super- excited to have this new journey in Indiana. Super-excited for that.
“I had a really fun time in New York. I had a lot of great teammates around me. I’m going to miss all of them. I had a lot of great coaches. The staff there was great.”
Toppin contained his frustration over lack of playing time publicly throughout his Knicks career until it bubbled over after Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals when he screamed at Thibodeau, frustrated with limited playing time in the loss. The two smoothed it over the next day, but it put on display that averaging 15.7 minutes, as he did last season, wasn’t going to appease him. He never spoke about it, clearing out of the locker room and avoiding the media throughout the rest of the playoffs. Even now, he refused to address the issues.
“I’m not going to lie,” Toppin said when asked about the situation that went public in recent weeks. “I [didn’t] really see anything. I ain’t on social media like that. All I’m really focused on is having the opportunity to come out here, meet the new guys, meet the staff and get this fresh start and win some games.”
While it’s certainly understandable that the New York native would have wanted more from his time with his hometown team, his tenure ended in frustration and a parting that both sides seemed ready to have happen. Toppin is eligible for a contract extension, and in New York, his role was limited behind Julius Randle. The trade will allow him the chance to find a better opportunity to prove himself.
“One of the statistics we happened upon . . . [is that he is] the No. 1 player in effective field-goal percentage in transition,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said, based on the last two years combined. “And No. 2 is Tyrese [Haliburton, Indiana’s point guard]. And No. 3 is [newly signed Pacer] Bruce Brown. So our management team has done a great job of adding a couple of great pieces to what our identity is — a fast team.”
Notes & quotes: DaQuan Jeffries remained sidelined after suffering a contused right hip in Saturday’s game. He is listed as day- to-day . . . The Knicks (0-2) fell to the Nets, 96-80. Charlie Brown Jr. led the Knicks with 16 points and Jaylen Martin had 15. Isaiah Roby had 12, all in the first half, and Trevor Keels added eight.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
