We’ve tried to write this in our head more than a few times after last night, but each time we failed. Some times our thoughts were too negative. Other times too positive. So we took a different tack.
In the end, it is what it is and overall, there was an indisputable wonder to it all. New York erupted last night in ways we can’t ever remember. This city, so often under siege in the last quarter century, felt a collective relief. not a sigh but rather an extended, sustained joy. Much of it was the joy of youth, but it was more than that. The community pride that pulls New Yorkers of all ages, genders, races, ethnicity, origin through the tough days and nights was palpable. The civic religion of basketball, so deliriously described in The City Game about a past Knicks title, once again showed itself. It was grand.
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Critics can and will say the fans of the Brooklyn Nets are left in the inevitably irrelevant lurch because this day is solely the property of the long-suffering New York Knicks fans. There is indeed a strong case for that. The Nets are at the NBA’s opposite pole from their neighbors. But at least in our mind, that’s secondary. Individual team and player fortunes rise and fall, sometimes inexplicably and at a moment’s notice. We know this. So do the more honest of the Knick fans. But the city goes on forever. We love New York and we love hoops so we’re happy for it and congratulate the Knicks and their fans.
And hope our time will come soon, just as it came for them, just as it came for the Liberty last year after 28 years of futility. Will the city react the same as it did last night should the Nets win? Almost certainly not. The Knicks have been part of the city for 80 years, the Nets 15. The Knicks play in midtown Manhattan, the center of the known universe, the Nets in Brooklyn, hip and hot but … It is what it is. Like we said.
Bottom line for the Brooklyn Nets in all of this is that they decided in June 2024 to go deep into a rebuild, hoping that by exchanging picks with the Rockets and adding picks from the Knicks, they’d be able to come away with top picks in two deep…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/netsdaily-off-season-report-no-024508682.html
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Publish date : 2026-06-15 02:45:00
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