The New York Knicks Are In Hell
By Kyle Koster
The New York Knicks are a brand-name organization with management most fans wouldn’t trust to to run a supermarket, even those knock-off ones where the shelves always need to be stocked and lighting is straight out of a bad mental institution bathroom. Kevin Durant’s decision to come to the city, but take up residence in Brooklyn with the Nets is a death blow to a hopeful group that allowed itself to believe, even when the franchise had been let down so many times before.
It wasn’t long ago that the pipe dream of Durant, Kyrie Irving — or at the least, Kemba Walker — were to join forces with Zion Williamsonto create a title-contending team immediately, and for the years to come. Then the somewhat predictable happened.
The NBA draft lottery came up snake eyes. Durant suffered a devastating injury, yet decided against coming to the so-called Basketball Mecca. Irving opted not to associate himself with the orange-and-blue stink.
Oh-for-three. Rinse and repeat.
A superteam at Barclays is the latest in a long string of signs that the all-powerful Knicks that so many believe them to be exist only in the mind. There they hold relevance. In the real world, they are an also-ran, a malnourished flower wilting and stepped over by thousands of commuters filing into Penn Station.
The definition of insanity is expecting different results from doing the same thing. That same thing is James Dolan, an overbearing and cartoonish figure that no one, it appears, wants to play for if they value their quality of life. He is the supermarket owner unable to adapt and attract competent employees. His shelves are as empty as they’ve ever been and the fans are, once again, grasping for sanity.
This is a wake-up call for anyone — inside the organization and out — who foolishly believed that logo meant anything, that it had magical powers capable of overcoming decades of failure.
The Knicks may play near Broadway but the best show will be taking the stage across the East River. Seats at Madison Square Garden should be priced to sell as the role of “stars” will be played by a cadre of understudies until further notice.
This is insult to insult and leaves the Knicks in a hot mess. One that certain feels as though damnation.