A Knicks Fan... Again?
This week marks my first anniversary. A year ago this week, I stopped being a New York Knicks fan.
I grew up a Knicks fan.
Bernard King was my favorite. Number thirty. That quick release. Single-handedly defeating the Pistons in the playoffs. Dropping fifty in back-to-back games. That devastating knee injury against the Kings.
In the playground, whenever I drained a jumper, I always punctuated it with a Marv Albert, “Yes!”
I was there for Jordan’s debut, before the baggy shorts. I was at the Garden for the Trent Tucker game, when he sank that three with 0.1 left on the clock. And I was at there for that other MLK day matinee, when Barkley leaped over the scorers’ table to go after the ref.
Then there was Pat Riley. He didn’t bring his LA Showtime to the Big Apple. He brought a bruising, physical brand of ball that forever changed the way hoops was played in the city. Everyone wanted to be Oakley. Everyone wanted to be Mason. Games at The Cage on West 4th took on a whole new feel.
That’s why I stopped playing there. I was going to get killed!
I was at all the Reggie Miller-Spike Lee games. I was there for John Starks’ dunk. I was at the Friday night game against the Rockets in the finals, the night of OJ’s low-speed white Bronco chase.
I was in the house for Charles Smith. Charles Smith.
My favorite player from those days was Glenn “Doc” Rivers. Number twenty-five. When I play Lotto or Powerball (yeah, I do from time to time, don’t hate), I always play number twenty-five. Because of Doc. I loved the way he ran the point. A selfless, pass-first point guard. The ball moved. Always. Doc wasn’t afraid to take it the hole either.
There were a few other good years after that. They even had that improbable run to the finals against the Spurs in the strike-shortened season. But James Dolan destroyed this once proud franchise. One misstep after another after another after another.
Latrell Sprewell, Stephon Marbury, Larry Brown, Eddy Curry, Frederic Weis, Stevie Francis, Isiah Thomas...
Still I kept coming back for more.
Even after we didn’t land King James -- not that I ever thought we really had a shot - I came back.
Then something unusual started happening at the World’s Most Famous Arena. Something unexpected. The Knicks started looking like a team again.
A team.
Amar’e dominated games. The Garden faithful showered him with chants of “MVP! MVP!” Felton moved the rock and got the ball to his big man. Danilo developed into a deadly shooter and a lethal three-point threat. Wilson Chandler, Landry Fields, Timofey Mozgov - these Knicks were fun.
But they were still one player away, one superstar away.
The popular choice was Carmelo Anthony.
I never wanted Carmelo. Never. Check my tweets. Check my status updates. Because getting him meant blowing up this team, and the Knicks were finally a team again. If Dolan pulled the trigger, so help me…
He did pull the trigger. The Knicks traded the team for Carmelo. Carmelo who needed his touches. Carmelo who needed his points.
I was done. February 21, 2011 was the day I stopped being a Knicks fan.
I was able to leave the Knicks. I had an option. In a year, the Nets would be moving down the street from me. The Brooklyn Nets. All I had to do was wait a season.
When Carmelo arrived, the ball stopped moving. Just like I thought it would. And I wasn’t quiet about it. Check my tweets. Check my status updates. I rooted against Carmelo. I rooted against the Knicks. I didn’t even want Tyson Chandler on my fantasy team, even though I knew he’d be a beast on the boards and among the league leaders in field goal percentage. I didn’t want Iman Shumpert’s for my bench either, even though his eye-popping quick hands made him the best off the ball defender I’d seen since Gary Payton.
Then along came Jeremy Lin.
Lin-Sanity.
I caught the fever.
I’m old enough to remember the summer of 1985, the year Dwight Gooden went 24-4 and took the baseball world by storm. He was the next Sandy Koufax. How many would Dr. K strikeout tonight? Twelve? Fourteen? Sixteen? Would this be the night he throws the first Mets no-hitter. Every fifth day was an event. Walk-up ticket sales at Shea on the nights he took the hill were in the thousands. Everyone wanted to be a part of the experience.
Lin-Sanity is the closest thing I’ve ever seen to Dwight Gooden, but it’s Dwight Gooden multiplied by many thanks to social media and twenty-four hour sports coverage.
But now comes the biggest question: What happens when Melo returns?
Melo has to buy in. He has to. If he doesn’t, the boos will reign down from the blues. He will be blamed. Forever. He’ll be public enemy number one. In this town, people will speak of him like they speak of Tom Brady.
At the moment, Carmelo’s saying all the right things. But can a player in his prime really change? Especially a player who needs his touches.
I’ve been saying no. I don't have that kind of faith in Carmelo. I don't have faith in a player who doesn't have faith in his teammates.
But then I read Ian Thomsen’s article for SI.com this past week. He talked about Paul Pierce. How he used to be “viewed throughout the NBA as a sulking, self-indulgent ball-stopper with an array of teamwork skills he didn't care to use.” Until his coach convinced a then 27 year old Paul Pierce to share the ball.
That coach? Doc Rivers.
Yeah, that Doc Rivers. The same Doc Rivers I loved watching play for my Knicks.
Doc Rivers convinced a twenty-seven year old Paul Pierce to change his game and have faith in his teammates. Guess how old Carmelo is?
When Celtics fans talk about the team’s all-time greats, they always mention Bird, Russell, Cowens, Cousy and Havlicek. They also now mention Paul Pierce. When Knicks fans talk about their team’s all-time greats, they always mention Clyde, Bernard, Willis Reed, Dave DeBusschere and Patrick Ewing. Will Carmelo’s name one day be included?
That’s up to Carmelo.
No, I’m not going back to being a Knicks fan. I’m a Brooklyn Nets fan now. At least I will be next year. I’m going to be there from the start.
But I will root for this Knicks team. If it remains a team. Because this Knicks team with Jeremy Lin at the point and Carmelo adopting to and buying into the system is about so much more than basketball.
It’s about bridging cultural divides.
Tolerance.
Awareness.
Acceptance.
It's about people. I'm always rooting for people.
Go New York,Go New York, Go New York, Go!