New York seems plenty Knicked up these days
The two oldest teams in the National Basketball Association — the New York Knicks and the Boston Celtics — are also two of the most divergent franchises you’d ever care to see. They are a study of extremes.
Regionally, both teams are natural rivals. For rivalries between New York and Boston aren’t just fought on playing fields, they’re also fought in the marketplace. New York being the bigger of the two cities not surprisingly boasts the bigger market share and therefore, the franchise is worth more money. In fact, Forbes Magazine says the Knicks are the most valuable basketball franchise in the league, valued at approximately $592 million.
The Celtics fans don’t care — their 16 NBA championships are the most for any NBA franchise. They’re synonymous for things like cigars and parquet floors (even though their fans pronounce it as a “PAH-kay flaw”… Boston wins the accent battle, too).
When you talk about the Celtics, you’re talking Red Auerbach, you’re talking Bill Russell, John Havlicek, Nate “Tiny” Archibald, Bob Cousy, “Pistol” Pete Maravich and Larry Bird.
No disrespect to Willis Reed, Bill Bradley, Clyde Frazier, Earl “the Pearl” Monroe and the Knicks’ early ‘70s championship set, but the Knickerbockers pale in comparison when you start naming names. Sure, there was the Patrick Ewing era … and that’s remembered best as what? A John Starks dunk, a missed finger roll and always being second best.
And it got worse for the Knicks. They signed Latrell Sprewell and despite being one of the more famous psychopaths in NBA history (his physical attack on P.J. Carlesimo was one of the NBA’s most shameful moments), he, along with Allan Houston and Marcus Camby, took the Knicks to the championship in the ‘98-‘99 season, losing to the San Antonio Spurs. It put Knicks fans in the awkward position of rooting for people they really didn’t like much.
But now, watching the Celtics run away from the conference in the first month with their Kevin Garnett-led team (and under the watchful eye of GM Danny Ainge), the Knicks latest era — the Isaiah Thomas/Stephon Marbury era — has Knick fans positively retching.
New York Post columnist Mike Vaccaro pointed out that even Knicks fans feel very strongly about their team — and in this case that’s not such a good thing.
“The Knicks inspire something else,” Vaccaro said. “They inspire anger. They inspire hatred.”
That’s a sad but telling comment regarding the operation at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers and Knicks have always been proud — but they’ve never been great for more than a year or two at a time. Now, they’re faced with fans who actually hate the team they’re supposed to be rooting for.
Yet the ball still bounces in Boston.