In this way, New York is the true capital of basketball. Beyond the dizzying array of connections to the NYC that unite almost all of the game’s denizens, New York’s primacy as a streetball center keeps the sport anchored in the five boroughs. Basketball embodies New York’s spirit, and New York embodies basketball’s. Appreciating this dynamic explains why places like West 4th Street are hallowed proving grounds; why the history of the game was likely altered the day that Black Jesus came forth from Philadelphia, held court in Harlem, and dazzled Lew Alcindor; why a palpable chill descends on the building when Kobe shows up to drop 60.
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The Knickerbockers are New York’s most visible link to the sport with which it shares a soul; the Knicks are a proxy for the City. And the Knicks, of course, play in the National Basketball Association. NBA basketball is the best-known, best-played form of the sport. A sustained championship drought, therefore, has bedeviled New Yorkers because it has challenged a shared sense of identity. Even if this discomfort is not always articulated as such, the Knicks’ failures have struck at what New Yorkers are about. The place of basketball should field a team which can play it as well as just about any other.
With or without LeBron, the Knicks will soon field a team as good as the game. Mark my words.
1 comments:
I'm a big Knicks fan, but I've never understood this rhetoric about them being the NBA's flagship franchise. The team hasn't been of consistent championship quality since before I was born. And I ain't no kid anymore. I'm hoping like hell they get a lot better and make MSG a madhouse again, believe me. But the league will survive. It's thrived for decades without the Knicks doing much of anything. And New York's a way bigger baseball (and even football) town than basketball.
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