This comes to us from a long-time New York Knicks fan, @Klew24, and depicts how emotionally draining it is to be a Knick fan. Furthermore, the writer goes through how he is FED UP with Dolan and his classless charade.
Enjoy!
I’ve been a Knick fan since 1993. Granted I was only six years old back then and don’t have too many early memories of the team outside of John Starks going 2 for forever essentially costing us a championship that feels like it will never come. Since I’ve been able to, I’ve sat and watched every minute of every game I could, but enough of the sappy, woe is me prelude. What this will be? Just a fed up fan throwing thoughts on paper about how dog sick I am of this franchise. After letting Lin walk for NOTHING for reasons unbeknownst to me, I figured this was a good time to finally sit down and write this after two weeks of talking about it. If you don’t like to read long pieces just do yourself a favor and hit the X button.
Let me make this clear from the start so my words and my intentions are clear. Jeremy Lin played well for the Knicks in a limited time frame. Lin is also unproven, and I am NOT making him out to be Chris Paul. He is what he is. A 23-year-old point guard who showed a lot of good things in the time period he played for the Knicks.
Now that I got the paragraph long disclaimer out-of-the-way, I’ll continue. At the midpoint of last season I was excited about a future young backcourt featuring Lin and Iman Shumpert. Well as luck would have it, Lin would need surgery on his knee during last season and Shumpert tore his ACL in the second game of the Heat series. That put a damper on things a bit, but I was still looking forward to seeing both of those guys when they came back from injuries. When do we ever actually see likable, significant, young talent on the Knicks anyway? Danilo Gallinari was the last one for me, and D’Antoni spent his time here misusing his talents. Outside of that, the Knicks have been pretty much completely barren of young talent.
I’m well aware, for a variety of reasons, that the Knicks won’t win a title. There three best players all take something away from the others. Tyson Chandler effectively ends Amar’e Stoudemire at Center, which is where he has been most effective as a Knick. Amar’e and Carmelo both like to work the same areas of the floor, and Amar’e is more effective with the aforementioned space (and mismatches against Centers league wide). And albeit another small sample size, the Knicks can’t take advantage of Carmelo at the four, which was a significant advantage as he played well there last season.
I’m not sure this coach is built to lead a team to a championship either. Did you watch Erik Spoelstra, undress him in the first round? Did you watch the yearly no shows that Atlanta put forth in the playoffs every season? The team responded well to him last regular season, but he failed to make any kind of adjustments in the playoffs. Now, not all of it is on him. He didn’t take himself out of a game by punching the glass casing of a fire extinguisher. Amar’e did that. There were a ton of injuries as well. Yes, the Knicks didn’t stand a chance to beat Miami and I get that, but Woodson’s playoff history speaks for itself.
And as much as I don’t have strong feelings towards Carmelo Anthony one way or another (I tend to argue with folks who are TOO entrenched in one side or another), can you really see a team winning a title with him as their best player? Think about it. I realize things happen and people eventually change. But just LAST season Carmelo played the entire season shaped like a pear and all but admitted he dogged it for the entire first half of last season. I hate arbitrary terms and hate the discussions surrounding them even more but I don’t see Carmelo as the top dog on a title team. I mean, the guy has been a part of two playoff series wins in NINE years. TWO. TWO.
And then our second best player is a cream puff PF who has been in the league nine years and has yet to develop a post move. He rebounds and defends like Mary Kate Olsen and shows more passion in bemoaning folks in direct messages on twitter than he ever does on the court. Oh and he has needlessly taken himself out of playoff games in each of the last two seasons. We owe that man $60 million for the next three seasons. And naturally, the Knicks used their amnesty last year on a guy who they exercised a team option on earlier in the SAME MONTH in Chauncey Billups. So while half the NBA trades or amnesties their bad contracts, the Knicks are saddled with Amar’e because they can’t amnesty him and Jim Dolan will never EVER admit a mistake.
So while this piece is really Lin-centric it’s more about being frustrated about all the crap the Knicks have done over the last decade and change. From the Ewing trade, to Jerome James contract, to trading 2 unprotected first round draft picks for a fat center with heart problems who didn’t give a damn about basketball, and now the whole Lin saga, the ineptitude never ends. Regardless of who is in the front office, coaching, playing one thing remains constant and that is James Dolan. Dolan is the man who let Isiah Thomas sabotage his organization for a cool half decade, then fired him only because of the sexual harassment case dropped on his head.
The frustration is bubbling over with the Lin stuff for a variety of reasons.
On a personal note and I’m well aware that this doesn’t mean much but, Lin really almost single-handedly accounted for the most exciting stretch of Knicks basketball in 13 years, or half my life. For the first time in a decade I actually looked forward to watching the games. Re-read that sentence and you’ll realize just how awful my existence is as a Knicks fan. Being “watchable” is remembered fondly.
Oy vey.
* There isn’t a reasonable basketball reason to be found for jettisoning a 23-year-old PG with upside for a 30-year-old retread coming off a dismal season. If you want to call the Knicks a win now team, that doesn’t help them right now. And it sure as hell doesn’t help them down the road. If and when this current team needs to be blown up, have fun doing that with ONE player under 25 on the entire roster with no draft picks until 2075.
* What the hell was the point of bringing in Jason Kidd if he isn’t going to be a personal coach of sorts for Lin? I mean, most of his value isn’t coming on the court. To say Kidd is a shell of his prime self is putting it mildly. So now we have a mediocre starter with no upside and a backup who looks all but finished. Why? Jim Dolan was mad that Jeremy Lin went out and pursued the offer that the Knicks TOLD him to seek. Is that why?
* As far as the beaten to death, “Well they don’t want to pay 40 million in luxury tax”, I’ve watched Jim Dolan pay 50+ million of luxury tax dollars to field 23 win teams featuring greats like Jamal Crawford, Eddy Curry, Stephon Marbury and the like. NOW he’s conscious with his money? When he’s never been? If he had a track record of being conscious then playing that card would be cool. But he never has, and he’s always (unfortunately) done what he thought was best for the team regardless of the price he has to pay. The luxury tax doesn’t affect the team on the court none at all, and Dolan wipes his ass with 100 dollar bills so why do some care so much? I’ll never understand.
* As far as how the contract was structured, I realize the $15 mil in year three is a big price to pay, but for the first two years at $5 million is very reasonable. And if for some reason, he isn’t who you thought he was by year three, having a $15 million expiring deal is still an asset. You’ll probably have to add to Lin and take on a questionable contract in return, but that isn’t difficult. All in all, I refer back to Dolan always shelling out the $ regardless.
* And lastly, and probably the most infuriating part of it all. You have this asset sitting there and if you had reservations about keeping him, HOW DO YOU JUST LET HIM WALK FOR NOTHING? I don’t care if you like Lin, love him or wanted him on the first thing smoking somewhere else. The fact that the Knicks managed to turn that asset into NOTHING is absolutely deplorable, and this whole exchange sums up the Knicks.
Now that I’ve let out all my frustrations on paper, I’ll conclude. I love the Knicks to death, to pieces and this isn’t all about Lin. This is just the latest in a cool decade of stupid moves from the Knicks and writing a damn near novel about it makes me feel better in a warped sense.
It sucks because I can’t quit the Knicks. I’m loyal to a fault, and if I root for another team that makes me a dreaded bandwagon fan. It will never be natural even though the Knicks have given be every reason to cut the cord on this relationship. They lose every year, they make stupid move after stupid move and here I am still affected by it. I still watch every game, and I still give a damn about whether the team wins or loses (more than Jim Dolan’s dumb ass can say for himself).
Bottom line, and this sums up this long ass piece in two sentences. Dolan is a classless, no good, no sense having, forever meddling POS. The Knicks will never win anything as long as Jim Dolan is running the team, and that is a sobering reality for me.
Let’s begin the ‘Give @Klew24 A Hug” campaign.
Sorry, dude. I wish I could offer some kind of solution but I can’t. I’m glad you were able to achieve some catharsis through writing.