The New York Knicks have been in
the NBA industry for 6 decades. 60 years of hard playing basketball and with
only 2 championship titles to show for. Yet, despite it’s futility, it’s hard
to imagine how these fans were able to embrace the culture of this team.
History and highlights will
never be short for this franchise. From Willis Reed’s gutsy limping appearance
during the Game 7 of 1970 finals wherein he shouldn’t play due to severe thigh
injury, to the Allan Houston miracle floater to lead the number 8 seeded Knicks
eliminated the number 1 seed Miami Heat in 1999 playoffs and well to the
frantic Reggie Miller’s 8 points in a span of 8.9 seconds to beat the Knicks in
Game 1 of the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Led by Patrick Ewing, the
Knicks were winning back then. In 1985, He led a rebuilding franchise into one
of the most feared teams to reckon with. During the 90’s, Ewing was considered
as one of the best centers ever played the game and has led the Knicks into
playoff contention every year. Sad case, Ewing wasn’t able to give Knicks the
desired championship after playing 15 seasons. Despite the setback, Knicks
remained as competitive as ever.
But in 2003, the biggest culprit
in franchise history has been born.
Dark age had come to New York.
It was a period of chaos and travesty. The Knicks have
hired Isaiah Thomas as president of basketball operations. Thomas dealt for
high-profile players in Zach Randolph, Jamal Crawford, Tracy McGrady and Steve Francis
which all went for naught. He signed fringe players such as Jerome James, Eddy
Curry and Jared Jeffries to a head turning, eyebrow raising and God-knows-why
contract only to see these three players sat on the rotted bench. Who would
also forget Thomas decision to draft Ronaldo Balkman ahead of Rajon Rondo?
Well, Thomas did help the Knicks
something. They have the highest payroll in the league during the 2005-2006
season wherein they also have the second worst record in the league.
Sarcastic? So much for the
saying, “With great power comes great responsibility”. Even Spiderman would be
disgusted on the ghastly decisions of Thomas.
After 5 gruesome years of
losing, Knicks management has seen enough. In 2008, Donnie Walsh was hired to
replace Thomas. Walsh laid out a plan to revive a dying franchise. He without
delay traded high-profile players for expiring contracts hoping to clear
significant salary space. And yet he did. In 2010 and his biggest signing,
Walsh signed Amare Stoudamire to a $100 Million for 5 years. In that same year,
he traded for Chauncy Billups and Carmelo Anthony. That was the last move of
Walsh before resigning.
From that point, the Knicks were
a playoff-team again.
After 2 seasons of 1st
round playoff exit with only one win to show for, it’s back to the drawing
board. Knicks just pushed the panic button. Despite the hype of Linsanity,
they’ve decided not to resign Jeremy Lin. Instead, they signed a bunch of aging
veterans in Jason Kidd, Raymond Felton, Marcus Camby and Rasheed Wallace.
Knicks are hoping these veterans could provide leadership and guidance to a
fast-rising young team.
But the early stage of 2012
season’s saga started bleak with Stoudamire starting the season on the injured
list.
The result? No problem. The Knicks
are winning again. Thanks largely to the regular season MVP leader in Carmelo
Anthony.
In a game perceived to be a team
game, superstars nowadays are forming allegiance to win the elusive
championship ring. Lakers have their avengers, Fantastic 4 invades Miami and
Clippers suddenly became Gotham City with their batman and robin tandem. As for
the Knicks, they have their Man of Steel.
Less is more. Having one potent
offensive threat and a bunch of role players has finally solved the formula for
a losing franchise. It’s a common misconception for managers to stack their
rotation by having two or more potent offensive guys to improve the team yet it
always turned out to be a bust.
Anthony has an uncanny way of
leading this Knicks team. His game has finally matured. His mantra is to score
yet try to look open teammates for better scoring opportunity and rarely forces
bad shots. 14 games into the season, Anthony is averaging close to 27 points
per game and shooting 46% from the field. In 3 seasons with the Knicks, this is
his best year number-wise.
Chemistry. This is what
Anthony’s game has been telling us. He doesn’t need Stoudamire in his Knicks
team. Him being the focal point of the offense is enough, evident to what he
had equally done in Denver. Despite Anthony and Stoudamire claims that they
could co-exist with one another, they just can’t. In their case, 2 negatives
can’t be a positive. Now that Stoudamire is injured, Anthony is delivering that
statement in a bold way and that is leading Knicks to victories.
Anthony has relish in his
bite-off-more-you-can-chew role in New York. In some way, he has a paradox way
of playing basketball. Fans have labeled him as a selfish player, ball hog and
a terrible teammate whenever they lose. However whenever they win, Anthony is a
matinee idol for basketball, star player, great competitor and many more. One
thing that drives Anthony this year is the fact his 3 buddies in his draft
class and teammates in US Olympics team have won the elusive championship. Wade
has won twice while Lebron and Bosh won theirs a year ago.
Starting the season 6-0 with
victories over powerhouse teams in Miami and San Antonio, Anthony had given
Knicks fan a sigh of relief. The Isaiah Thomas tenure is over. The rising
impatience of Knicks fans has settled down and a once beleaguered franchise is
on the rise once again. For every wins the Knicks mustered, it was a step
further from repenting what Thomas caused them during his tenure. This was the
reward that Walsh expected when he took the job and lastly, this is what Ewing
envisioned after deciding to call it a career.
Quoting from an Alicia Keys
song, “In New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of, there’s nothing
you can’t do. The lights will inspire you”. Yes, in New York, this is the place
where Carmelo Anthony will place his legacy, which is why he wanted to be
traded here in the first place.
This is the new era, the Carmelo
Anthony era.
One fact is certain: Spike Lee
will be on the courtside supporting his beloved Knicks.
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