There once was a team in New York

I’m not much of an NBA fan of late. That’s strange for me, because growing up, I couldn’t get enough of it. I was a huge Knicks fan and probably went to Madison Square Garden more than any other sporting venue. I loved the NBA, and not just my Knicks heroes: Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley, John Starks, Mark Jackson, but followed plenty of other NBA superstars: Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olojuwan, Charles Barkley, Chris Mullin, and Shawn Kemp. The NBA was my thing! I still have entire taped All-Star weekends and Playoff games.

So, last night, when the 2008 All-Star game was being played, I was actually struggling to stay interested. This lasted for about 12 minutes and then it was back to an old episode of Family Guy. There were no Knicks in the game (not a surprise since I don’t think it’s out of line to say that they suck) and the superstars seemed to be playing at ¾ speed. (Apparently, the game picked up in the final quarter and, thanks to LeBron James, was actually a really good ballgame.)

The reason for all this disdain is that my beloved New York Knicks are in the tank. Actually let me rephrase: The New York Knicks are approaching basketball death. Go ahead and say I’m overreacting, but consider this: The Knicks play in a city which at one time was basketball crazy and its fans were considered the most knowledgeable in the country. Now, NASCAR and arena football are getting more highlights on the evening news.
It’d be one thing if this is new, but this has been going on for quite some time now. For the past six seasons the Knicks have been a basement team and have shown no signs of improvement. There was a little action at the Garden when the fans started chanting and calling for the firing of the head coach and even the job of the owner. Now some of that has gone away, because Knicks fans, as knowledgeable as they are, know this is all a lost cause. The players know it too. Zach Randolph, probably the best all around player the team has, was quoted last week that “things aren’t working out here.” At 15-37, is that really an astute observation?

The worst part of it all? They have very little signs of improving, with a bloated, overpaid roster (highest payroll in the NBA) and plenty of long, expensive and thus untradable contracts. Ugly is on pace to get even uglier.

There were clues that a year like this was coming from the beginning. It started with Isaiah Thomas, the team’s head coach and scapegoat, probably deservedly so, in a nasty sexual harassment suit. As the season began, the Knicks hometown hero, Stephon Marbury started to complain about his playing time. When Isaiah put Marbury on the bench, he sulked and decided to leave the team. When he finally returned, Thomas asked the team to vote on whether Marbury should be allowed to play. The team voted unanimously no. Isaiah took this to heart and sat him all of one quarter.

Now there are some good roll models. Knicks Fever- Catch It!!
So I can’t see Thomas really getting a whole lot of respect out of his players. Knicks owner, Jim Dolan, in his infinite wisdom (I’ll go on record as saying he’s is the most incompetent owner in sports) decided to keep Isaiah as coach even though he had said over and over that he would fire him if he didn’t see the team improving.

Soon after the Marbury debacle, Thomas and Dolan had a closed door sit down. Neither party would discuss what was said.
So here is what I would like to think the conversation looked like:

Dolan: So we suck, huh?
Thomas: We can actually still make the playoffs.
Dolan: Really? The conference is that bad?
Thomas: Yep.
Dolan: Well, everyone wants me to fire you. This is a pretty bad team. Your moves haven’t worked, there’s booing every night and you’re yelling at the fans. I wish I could do that.
Thomas: Are they booing? I thought they were saying “twooooooo points.” And we accommodate the fans a few times with that…
Dolan: Nope it’s booing. I think I have to fire you.
Thomas: Well, think of it this way. Why fire me? Are you going to bring in a new coach now? There are some good draft picks coming up, so I don’t think you want this team improving too drastically and reducing chances to get some potential big stars. Why don’t we just let this season play out, call it a rebuilding year and trade away most of the team for nothing, continue to develop our young guys and start all over?
Dolan: re… rebuilding year? Teams do that?
Thomas: All the time, you just never did and I think it’s safe to say that if there’s been a time to consider it then…
Dolan: But I told everyone I’d fire you.
Thomas: Yeah, but you’ve told people a lot of things.
Dolan: That’s true.
Thomas: Just think, in 3-4 years we’ll look back at this and laugh.
Dolan: Yeah, besides we’ve still got the circus coming to MSG.


So, there you have it. At least, I hope that’s what’s going on. Maybe the realization has finally smacked some one in the forehead and there’s an end to this misery in sight. Rebuilding, a concept foreign to most New York teams.

Maybe someday I’ll be able to once again take my Knicks jersey out of the closet…