Welcome back to Knick playoff basketball!
New York are your Eastern Conference champions.
The Big Apple is heading to the NBA Finals for the first time in 27 years with Clyde commentary and Mike Breen calling the “BANG!”
Partying like it was 1999, these young princes, who could be King like Bernard, last came close to their first ‘chip since 1973 when they lost 4-1 to the San Antonio Spurs twin towers of David Robinson and Tim Duncan.
Golden era stars Latrell Sprewell, Allan Houston, Larry Johnson and Marcus Camby gave it everything they had. But with an aging Patrick Ewing missing the series, and a chance to give Camby some post help with the twins, NYK seriously never had a chance against a dominant dynasty in the making.
No Earl Monroe pearls.
Right after which, legend Ewing got traded to Seattle. And he didn’t even hide his disdain in those Sonic press photos, no tails.
Since then, there has been more eras than a Taylor Swift tour. The Starbury one. Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire in the 2010’s. And of course, who could forget Linsanity? They’ve all given the city something to cheer, and jeer for, like only the Madison Square Garden crowd can, but right now, this New York state of mind, and play, is about to sell out MSG like Billy Joel.
And they started the fire.
Can this Garden be Eden again?
The Knickerbockers are the first team to swipe their Metro cards on a one-way trip to the NBA promised land. Spurred on by the fact that they might be able to get revenge against San Antonio. If the enigma of unicorns, Victor Wembanyama, can take his team past the reigning NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder and their back-to-back MVP, the great Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Wemby is playing chess with OKC, like he did in New York’s Washington Square a few falls back. The Western Conference Finals is deadlocked at two game apiece. Something no one thought would happen, like these young Spurs getting this far, this early in their young basketball, post Pop lives.
After Shai and Oklahoma City swept both Phoenix and the LeBron led Lakers, everything else seemed as forgone a conclusion as the Most Valuable Player presentation.
Back to New York City, the orange and blue just swept Cleveland, capped off by a 130-93 rout in Ohio. As the Cavaliers’ Donovan Mitchell, James Harden, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley struggled to get the sword out the stone, will this be the catalyst that sees the witness of The King return to The Land?
Watch this space…and Nike billboard! It would be one hell of a closing chapter, Cleveland…for you.
But this is for NYC. First the Liberty brought it home to the B.K. in the W, and now it’s time for justice for all that head to Penn Station for more than a Greyhound out of town.
Living for this moment in a New York minute, the Knicks haven’t looked back since overcoming a 22-point deficit in their Game One 115-104 win at Madison Square. Led by Eastern Conference Finals MVP Jalen Brunson’s 38 points. One of the purest points and legendary leaders the city and game has ever seen.
The whole roster, is fan favourite and deserving of earning the highest honour in National Basketball Association history. Superstar Karl-Anthony Towns, and Toronto, and ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ star Anne Hathaway’s favourite player, OG Anunoby. The greatest role player of them all Josh Hart, doing the dirty work with Mitchell Robinson. Not to mention Mikal Bridges heading downtown, hot, and not just to hit up the local Chipotle.
There’s so much talent on this ‘bocker roster that even big names and guns like Jordan Clarkson, Jeremy Sochan and Jose Alvarado have to take a backseat on Mike Brown’s bench. Yet it’s this depth that could outlast any match-up in a seven-game series, which of course, in the NBA Finals, will go all the way, one way or another.
The team doesn’t end there with more superfans than when Jack Nicholson used to lead STAPLES back in the day. ‘Dune’ and Dylan star Timothée Chalamet sitting courtside with Kylie Jenner. Long-time loyalist Ben Stiller taking better pictures on his phone than Getty Images and of course, the one and only Spike Lee. No one deserves it more than him. Lying on the Cleveland court logo to try and get the best shot of the trophy presentation. Reggie Miller looking on.
Not to mention all the lifers in the nosebleeds and the five boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx and Staten Island behind them.
Mark the spot on your subway map because it’s like that. These Knicks have even made the iconic cover of the legendary New Yorker magazine. But now they could do something no one else has in NBA history.
Following their NBA Cup win, they could be the first team to win the league’s double like a Premier League football team. Or is that the triple?
Because right now, the beasts of the east have taken the biggest bite out of the apple.
