Hey, Knicks Fans, James Dolan Doesn’t Deserve You
An open letter from one reformed New York fan to the remaining Garden faithful who need to be set free.
Dear New York Knicks fans.
I come to you with all the love in the world. Please, don’t shoot the messenger. All I want is the best for you; for all of us.
It’s time to jump ship. (It definitely be sinkin’. Again.)
Look, I think we all know how this is going to shake out in the immediate future. The Knicks are heading to the lottery (yes!) and they’re gonna blow the pick (dammit!). In the offseason, they’re gonna acquire the wrong players (see, e.g., Rose, Derrick and Bargnani, Andrea), and it will be clear to everyone except the front office (see, e.g., Jackson, Phil).
There will be further embarrassing incidents at the World’s Most Famous Arena with even more embarrassing press releases to follow. We’ll pay good money and countless hours watching Carmelo Anthony hold the ball for way too long on one side of the court, and his steadfast refusal to defend on the other.
At some point, the team’s savior — and everybody’s favorite 🦄 — Kristaps Porzingis will be forced to play in bubble wrap because, well … let’s not even go there with bad omens.
Admittedly, it’s not your fault, Knicks fans. None of this is.
And that’s why it’s time to move on. New York owner James Dolan simply doesn’t deserve you. You’ve done enough. Time has been served. (Too much time, if we are being honest.) Dolan isn’t going anywhere, and that means his and his staff’s outward hostility and arrogance isn’t going anywhere, either.
Sure, many, many teams experience down cycles, and prosperity feels SO much better when you’ve been put through the ringer. But for Knicks fans, the dark times have been unrelenting and needlessly humiliating for going on two decades!
Think about the New York’s glorious history. Actually, on second thought, maybe it’s not really so glorious at all. The team’s golden eras have only lasted for six years each. The graceful Clyde Frazier-led Knicks? Six poetic years. The bruising Patrick Ewing-led Knicks? Six gritty years. The incompetent James Dolan-led Knicks? Seventeen painful years, save for one.
And yet, there never seem to be any consequences.
Fandom, like any healthy relationship, needs to be nurtured, and yet, despite the agony, New York fans keep showing up. According to Bleacher Report, Madison Square Garden has sold over 99 percent of Knicks games tickets since the 2000–01 NBA season. That’s nothing short of heroic levels of loyalty — especially when one considers that the Knicks have returned the love with all of 15(!) home playoff games during that stretch.
Let that sink in for a moment. 15 home playoff games in 17 years. Excuse me, 15 fucking home playoff games in 17 fucking years.
Again, despite the (and I’m being generous here) mediocrity, the fans keep showing up. It’s what we do. New York legend, and still-to-this-day-Knicks-fan, Charles Oakley showed up, too. The Oakman, of course, was the guy we all related to during the Garden’s Patrick Ewing-led 1990s hey day. It didn’t matter that Oakley wasn’t a New Yorker by upbringing. For every kid of average talent who was too small to play big, but too tough to play nice, his was the poster that adorned our bedroom walls.
In a way, when Oakley was unceremoniously kicked out of MSG last week, we were all kicked out. Pushed to the ground by a team of security guards, handcuffed, arrested, charged, attacked by the public relations department, and banned from the arena. All within the span of less than 48 hours.
All of us.
Ladies and gentlemen, fellow Knicks fans, my brothers and sisters, let’s face reality. This not just the final straw. This is the Oak that broke the camel’s back. And despite NBA Commissioner Adam Silver’s noble attempt to put the horse back into the barn — he reportedly brokered a meeting between Oakley, Dolan, and … Michael Jordan? — it’s time to move on.
Trust me, I’ve seen the light.
Eighteen years ago, I moved away from New York. I spent two years in Atlanta, followed by the last sixteen in San Francisco. Each year, it gets easier to distance myself from the team of my youth. When I moved out to the Bay Area, I made it a point to latch onto an awful Warriors team with cheap tickets that were just a short BART ride away. I sat through the Cohan years.
I painfully watched the majority of the team’s 26 wins during the 2009–10 season.
I also just watched the majority of the team’s 73 wins in last year. Each moment was beautiful and joyous, and despite the ultimate failure in the Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers, I received more than I put into my fandom. I feel lucky to have committed to a franchise that has and executes a clear vision for its future. I’m all-in with a quartet of stars that play both ways with passion and unselfishness. And I’m thankful to follow an organization that embraces its roots, even during the times when there just wasn’t much to plant.
Who knew that the love you give to a basketball team could be reciprocated?
The Knicks will always have a place in my heart, but a better tenant has moved in. I’m now a Warriors fan first, a Knicks fan second. It’s been that way for a long time. My kids are the same way. Call me a bandwagon fan if you want, but I have no qualms about it.
Admittedly, leaving the Knicks was made easier by the fact that I stepped into nirvana with the Warriors rise. But you know what also made it easier? NBA League Pass, where I can watch any team at any time. And Twitter, which keeps me informed, ensuring that I never miss the latest Knicks trade debacle or off-court scandal.
Think I am being overly dramatic?
Well, let me call to your attention the plight of Ewing, arguably the franchise’s greatest player. Despite running through ten coaches since the Big Fella retired, he has been granted all of ZERO interviews with the Knicks for a coaching position with the organization. That’s at least ten chances to show him the respect he’s earned.
And, hey, remember Linsanity? Of course you do. Remember that time Jeremy Lin torched Kobe Bryant at the Garden when he was sleeping on Landry Fields’ couch? Man, what a fun beacon in the fog that was — until it was snuffed out by Dolan and ‘Melo’ for the Knicksiest reasons ever.
Remember Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler? Remember how much fun they were to watch during Amare Stoudemire’s first season in New York?
Ultimately, it doesn’t much matter why you pick a new team. All that matters is that when the Knicks are relegated to the secondary spot in your heart that they deserve, you will be able to laugh without the pain. You will find basketball peace. Life will go on, and Dolan will become less of an embarrassing thorn in your side and more of a clown car driver in your rearview mirror.
