Can you imagine what a New York Knicks championships could look like?
Over the past 51 years and four days – not that anyone who has been counting how long since May 10, 1973, when the Knicks beat the Los Angeles Lakers in match 5 of the NBA final to win the second title of the franchise – it was an absurdly without consumption.
In the meantime, all the other teams in the New York region, with the exception of the jets, won at least one title, while everyone except the Rangers has hoisted a championship trophy at least twice. You never want to be compared to jets or rangers here.
The first half of the drought had at least almost annual. The Knicks have been eliminated eliminatory series in the conference semi-finals or nine consecutive times from 1992 to 2000, a duration whose sorrows can be summarized with a variety of sentences that Knicks fans whisper while being adjusted for lip caches: Charles Smith cannot hit a lay-up. John Starks, 2 for 18 in match 7. Reggie Miller, eight points in nine seconds. The fights with Miami Heat from Pat Riley.
As tortuous as these experiences, they took a warm nostalgic glow during the first two decades nightmarish of the 21st century. The Knicks have not made the final of the Eastern Conference since spring 2000. Only one other NBA team – Washington Bullets / Wizards – has suffered a longer conference final. You never want to be compared to wizards or balls either.
From the 2000-01 to 2019-2020 season, the Knicks had the worst percentage of victories in the NBA. And they were not just bad – they were not kind in a way that questioned the unshakable faith that they still generated basketball fans of the region.
They used lottery choices on Mike Sweetney, Jordan Hill (chosen between Stephen Curry and Demar Derozan in 2009), Frank Ntilikina and Kevin Knox. They have traveled 14 coaches, including the renowned temple Lenny Wilkens and Larry Brown. Isiah Thomas failed both as a coach and managing director while also being prosecuted for sexual harassment by former executive Anucha Browne Sanders, who won a regulation of $ 11.6 million.
The head coach of the Title NBA, the NBA, Phil Jackson, who played in the two Knicks championship teams, supervised 166 defeats in three seasons as president of the team. Superstars like LeBron James and Kevin during barely recognized the Knicks during their free agency visits.
The hiring of former agent Leon Rose as president of the team in March 2020 does not seem to presume better fortunes. However, Rose has signed or acquired an entire starting range which embodies the unloved attitude of New York – no one more than the leader Jalen Brunson, who has become the best signature of free agent in the history of Big Apple’s sport since the Knicks prioritized him on Donovan Mitchell in the summer of 2022.
These Knicks are not the most talented team in the league, but it is the most workers and the most cohesive under the head coach Tom Thibodeau, the scientist of grumpy basketball who did his best job to obtain the Knicks in a victory for the collapse of the Celtics. The Knicks, which were 0-4 in the regular season against Boston, overcome two-digit deficits in each of their three victories in this series.
Knicks fans of all ages know better than watching too far in match 5 tonight against the Celtics, whose championship pedigree will make them difficult to finish – even without Jayson Tatum. The Indiana Pacers, another traditional executioner, is wary of the finals of the Eastern Conference. The favorite of the West Conference Oklahoma City Thunder looks like a potential dynasty in the making. There is a very good chance that this season ends with another almost lamentable.
And yet, for the first time this century, an answer finally focuses for the most unanswered question: can you imagine what a Knicks championship parade could look like? This would make Times Square the New Year looks like a birthday party of an preschool child.
