Knicks management, players and fans rejoice! For the first time in what feels like decades, the spotlight of criticism and failure to win is finally moving from Herald Square to Brooklyn.
After the early morning trade of Kevin Durant to Phoenix by the Nets, the Big 3 experiment concocted by Brooklyn is officially over and the team is in rebuild mode.
That means that the Knicks can, at least for a few days, finally take a deep, clean breath devoid of the venomous hate and critiques that polluted the air hovering over Madison Square Garden, for it has made its way over to Barclays and Industry City in Brooklyn.
Since the Nets first moved to Brooklyn in the summer of 2012, it has stolen some of the cultural shine that the Knicks long enjoyed.
Backed by billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, who bought the team in 2010, and Jay-Z, the Nets quickly injected the culture into the team.
Gone were the New Jersey connections and in stepped Brooklyn heritage and hip hop.
From Brooklyn/Crooklyn Dodger Blue to Coogi designs, the team adopted the borough’s heritage.
As neighborhoods like Williamsburgh, Fort Green and Park Slope gentrified, some Manhattanites moved across the bridge to take up residency in the suddenly trendy Brooklyn, which attracted even more residents from outside of the city and state.
Then they started claiming and supporting the Nets, many not even knowing the team’s history. It was simply because it was trendy, hip and the apparel said “Brooklyn.”
The team went even further by running ads across subway stations and city billboards. They even placed a billboard in Hell’s Kitchen, a few short blocks away from the Garden, further encroaching upon the Mecca of basketball and the home of the Knicks.
Knicks fans felt the rise of the Brooklyn upstarts, but they refused to relinquish their place in basketball and cultural lore.
New York is basketball but make no mistake. The Knicks are the city’s team.
In 2019, the Nets tried to change that by signing Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.
Irving’s desire to sign with the team was understandable. He was raised in New Jersey and dominated in Garden State high school basketball, so seeing the team make the NBA Finals in 2003 held importance for the star player.
“In my heart, I always knew I wanted to play at home,” said Irving at the time.
But pairing him with Durant, DeAndre Jordan, and, eventually, James Harden signaled that a new sheriff was in town.
On the court, Brooklyn asserted their claim to the city by dominating the New York series. From 2019 to current day, the Nets have owned the Knicks, going 11-2 during that span. That includes winning the last nine straight.
That’s embarrassing for Knicks fans, many of whom bought tickets in Brooklyn because it was easier (and cheaper) to get tickets there. However, it wasn’t as easy to get wins.
Players, management and Nets fans laughed at the frustration of the Knicks community. While the latter continued to flounder in its attempt to attract star power and wins, Brooklyn did both, which further strengthened its claim as THE team in New York.
But at the start of 2021, despite the continued dominance in the series head-to-head matchup, that claim developed cracks.
First, the team traded disgruntled star James Harden to the Sixers in exchange for Ben Simmons.
Simmons, as we all know, is a non-factor. ESPN’s Bobby Marks called him an “untradable asset” and said he’s known around the league as “unreliable.”
Even though the Knicks couldn’t beat the Nets on the court, that move at least gave Knicks fans something to laugh at the Nets about.
Then Durant and Nets management had a blow-up this summer and he was almost traded before the beef was squashed and he returned to the team.
Then came Kyrie’s antics, which ranged from missing games in order to “be a voice for the voiceless” against New York City’s vaccine mandate and his suspension this season for posting a link to an anti-Semitic film to demanding to be traded.
Aside from a championship, these were temporarily satisfying gifts long-suffering Knicks fans could enjoy. Seeing their Brooklyn rivals swirling in drama has given them something to laugh at and be petty about.
This week, the Nets Big 3 damn started to break after Kyrie was traded to the Mavericks. Early this morning, it finally broke when Durant was traded to the Phoenix Suns.
That trade ended what Mike Greenberg deemed “the end of an error.”
While no Knicks fan will ever side with owner James Dolan, today they are aligned with him in their petty assault on the Nets for failing to bring a championship to Brooklyn despite the fanfare and star talent.
Knicks fans are laughing at all of the transplanted Brooklynites who adopted the Nets simply because they were cool.
They’ll be wearing the orange and blue with pride today, but more as a slight to those who bought Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving black and white Nets jerseys.
Even more importantly, they’ll be walking with extra swagger to gladly remind Brooklyn fans that despite their 11 years in Brooklyn and their winning record in the series, the Knicks will always be New York’s team.
They’ll also gladly remind them about still having Ben Simmons.
And like true New Yorkers and New York Knicks fans, they won’t give a damn.
