aBit of… GRIT, H(E)ART, AND A TON OF REBOUNDS
I spent most of my teens and twenties commuting to and from Manhattan, the beating concrete heart of New York City. Every October, Madison Square Garden would start glowing blue and orange with the banners and ads for upcoming Knicks games, and pretty much every April, it would settle back down into its original cold gray and anthracite as the Knicks missed another postseason opportunity. I didn’t pay it too much mind, as it was kind of the outcome everyone expected; but over the years, I came to miss the coruscating blue and orange that decorated my way to the train home, and grew a little sad to see them go so suddenly, as if the city itself were ashamed of housing such a middling team. But after such an invigorating end to the Knicks season this year, it seems as though these languid years served as a foundation to magnify what is sure to become the Brunson era of Knicks history.
I haven’t been a serious fan of basketball since I was very young; the last NBA playoffs games I remember watching were the 2006 Finals, when the Miami Heat, led by a prime Dwyane Wade and a still-kind-of-prime Shaq, bested the Dallas Mavericks and their stars- Jason Terry, Dirk Nowitzki, and to some extent, Josh Howard- in six intense, high-octane games. I had actually been a Pistons fan in the years prior to that, and I really loved the Billups/Wallace roster for their very physical and gritty style of ball. The Knicks of this era, consistently stymied by bad management and barely held together by superstars and coaches who despised each other, weren’t much more than an afterthought from my perspective, but I was often reminded by friends and adults growing up that rooting for them was a “New York thing to do.”
Since then, I haven’t really kept up much with sports in general, but with the Knicks fanbase as passionate as it is, I found it impossible to stay completely out of the loop with at least some of the highlights of the team over the years - the Linsanity run while Melo was out with an injury, Kristaps’ career high 35 points against the Pistons, and so on - brief but electrifying glimpses of excellence. These moments started to build up in the recent memories of Knicks fans who knew their teams could aim higher and perform better. And this postseason, they got what they wished for - first and second round performances against the Sixers and the Pacers, long and hard-fought ones that satisfied viewers like the first long gulp of cool water after too many hours in the summer sun. To be pedantic, they got it again; last year, when they took the 8th-seeded Miami Heat to six games before being bested once and for all, not as many people were paying attention. The Knicks have had one-off playoff runs before. One of the reasons this year’s run was so special is that they did it confidently twice in a row, and another reason is that they did it with an increasing number of season-ending injuries for their best performers.
Going into Game 1 against the Sixers, the odds weighed heavily against the Knicks, as they tended to. And for most of the game, they seemed to play out accordingly, with the Sixers leading 82-79 going into the final quarter. Then, out of the woodwork came Josh Hart, scoring an incredible and unusual 13 points in this quarter alone as his teammates came off the bench to take Game 1 for New York. They would come together in similar ways through various highs and lows throughout the series: Bojan Bogdanovic suffered damage to his wrist and foot after Game 4 in the Sixers series, and Tyrese Maxey, Philly’s star guard, shut down his opponents with an absolutely mental 46-point game, shoring up an 8-point deficit in under 30 seconds. A heartbreaking finish to a game that was really supposed to be a formality.
The Knicks came back swinging hard in Game 6, though, with Brunson tearing up the court to drop 41 points, handing out 12 assists, and of course, Josh Hart grabbing the last rebound of the series. They embarrassed the Pacers in their first game, too, but the injuries continued to mount. Jalen sat out with a sore foot. OG Anunoby, a critical component of the Knicks’ defense, hurt his hamstring, and hobbled off the court looking like he sat on a fence. The indefatigable Josh Hart strained his abdomen and sat, his face full of guilt and apprehension as he clutched a warm compress. But the team kept going. In the final moments of the Pacers series, in the middle of a torrid Game 7, Brunson broke his hand. He walked off the court. Josh Hart was fouled out shortly afterwards. And despite the tremendous effort and output from the few remaining players, the Knicks lost.
But this time, this loss, was a little different. In spite of a remarkable display of poor sportsmanship shown by Tyrese Haliburton, known crybaby and rubber-of-salt-in-wounds, there was hope left at MSG after the buzzer sounded, and the standing ovation given by the crowd left little room to wonder how New York felt about their team that night.
Maybe that’s what fans love about these Knicks. They feel relatable to the average New Yorker because they’re beaten down on the reg by circumstances out of their control. They’re injured, banged up, undervalued, and often dismissed as contenders. But they’re smart, talented, and spunky, and with the right leadership, they could do things, go places. They have haters. Guys like Tyrese Haliburton, cowards with a penchant for kicking people when they’re down. But they won’t stay down forever. They dream of getting back up and making it big in New York. It starts as brief glimpses. A 35 point game in a win over the Pistons here. A buzzer beater against the Celtics there. The dream gets a little longer each year. And eventually, they make back-to-back conference semifinals. No matter the situation, they give 110%, and win or lose, they simply try to play better the next game.
Sounds like a team that’s found their identity.
I don’t commute to the city as often anymore, but I still remember the sight of hundreds of New Yorkers on game days, flocking towards the Garden in droves, the bright lights reflected on their skin and the jerseys they wore. Regular people used to defeat, but never defeated. They might get knocked down, but they’ll always get back up for their team and for themselves. These were the people rooting for the Knicks at their worst, and they’ll be the ones most looking forward to some early June evening where the sky over 34th Street and 7th Avenue is painted blue and orange.
PS. Shout out to my good friend, Kevin Monroy, for getting me back into the NBA.
The CHAPTER .25 release features an array of pieces with some vivacious pops of orange to celebrate the team that defied all expectations this spring. We topped it off with customized aBit fitted caps, and also incorporated our classic hand-embroidery and core logo for those of you who couldn’t care less about the Knicks, but still want some new high-quality threads.
We hope you enjoy this release and look forward to your own excellent next season.
CHAPTER .25 FAMILY & FRIENDS EXCLUSIVE
FRIDAY, MAY 24TH
PASSWORD TO THE SHOP WILL SENT TO OUR EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS AT 1PM EST
