When all signs point to the worst, it’s the intrinsic nature of a true fan to look for the bright side. That’s just what we do. With roughly 60 percent of the season completed, we as fans of the New York Knicks will grasp at straws for things in the affirmative.
First, as rough as the terrain has been, there still exists an opportunity to make the postseason at a slot as high as the seventh seed. It’s difficult but not impossible. History, for this franchise, has shown that an eighth-seeded team can indeed catch fire and make a deep run in the playoffs. The other point we can state as a fact is that for the here and now, we’re better than the team playing their home games at the Barclays Center. Yeah, that’s it! Not much more to holla about. Ain’t no need to fool ourselves. In fact, the indicators show that bottoming out is a goal that was deemed attainable, and we’re going full throttle in that direction. How else can we explain the transgressions of the past few weeks? Who better to provide an analysis than the block?
Whether true or not, the theories that come from the streets have just as much merit and a little more entertainment than what we read/hear in sports media. Consensus agrees that it began Feb. 22, 2011, when the team sought to change the landscape of the Eastern Conference by trading for Superstar Carmelo Anthony in a multiplayer deal involving the Denver Nuggets and the Minnesota Timberwolves. At the time, the pairing of Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire was very formidable, and led by Anthony the Knicks looked to be shaping into a respectable franchise.
The long-term promise went unfulfilled. Through his tenure here Anthony has consistently given the team the best that he has. As one of the premier scorers in the league, Anthony provides buckets in abundance. We knew from the gate that’s what his game was about. The idea was to build a squad that complemented his strengths, yet management hadn’t been able to procure the necessary personnel, including five different head coaches, needed to become a perennial title threat. This problem could have been averted by Knicks Team President Phil Jackson had he simply not re-signed Anthony in 2014. So then is it coincidental that as Anthony’s profile as a galvanizer in urban communities (he was front and center in Baltimore regarding Freddie Gray and his call for fellow athletes to lend voices and support to the plight of the young men of color who face injustices on a regular basis) has increased, his shortcomings on the basketball court have been magnified and scrutinized? Anthony is an offensive machine trapped in a machine that’s offensive.
Further proof of that statement revolves around the debacle that transpired Feb. 8 involving New York Knicks great Charles Oakley. Within minutes of the start of the nationally televised game, we saw that Oakley was surrounded, dragged out, wrestled to the ground, arrested and banned for life from Madison Square Garden, all at the behest of the owner of the team. The real reason this trouble occurred escapes us, but the company line alluded to personal demons as the cause. Of course, the accusation wasn’t baseless because credible “witnesses” (Madison Square Garden personnel, cops and patrons also seated in that very pricey section) echo the account Knicks management gave.
Do belligerence and public inebriation warrant that show of force and the accompanying character assassination? Word? How ironic then, that in the 1992-93 (Atlantic Division Champions, Conference Finalist) and 1993-94 (Eastern Conference Champions) seasons Oakley was an integral part of the core of the team that fought tooth and nail in the quest for the elusive Championship banner, while the current owner of the team spent time in a drug rehabilitation center. Hmmm…
An olive branch has been extended and the ban has been rescinded, yet Oakley, however, has some reservations. He believes that a private truce, sans a public apology, is null and void. Public humiliation in front of thousands live and millions via the media will make you feel that way. The owner hasn’t moved on that as yet, so it’s a safe assumption that he who has the gold makes the rules. This situation is gonna play itself out. It always does. Unfortunately, the mettle of some die-hard fans will also. The New York Knicks team, if some of the rumors were to materialize, will have a starting line-up consisting of Rubio, Porzingis and Love, alongside a bench with Hernangomez, Vujacic, Kuzminskas, Plumlee and Baker. Garden gentrification? Time will reveal.
Over and out. Holla next week. Til then, enjoy the nightlife.