It's hard not to be a Knicks fan this year

Meanwhile, the Celtics are both winning and driving me nuts

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Last Saturday, my husband Tyler and I went for a walk in our Brooklyn neighborhood. Tyler was wearing a Knicks hat — he hasn’t left the house this spring without wearing some piece of Knicks gear. New York had just beaten the Philadelphia 76ers in round one of the NBA Playoffs. It was a knock-down, drag-out, six-game series that made the drama on Bravo seem somewhat tame. It was also the most glorious and stressful basketball we’ve seen all year, played by the toughest, most injured, and most resilient team in the league.

As we strolled to our favorite bakery (shoutout La Bicyclette — if you know, you know), a guy walked up the block toward us. He also wore a Knicks hat, and nodded at Tyler when he got a few yards away. As they passed each other, they both said, “Go Knicks.”

A block later, we approached a dude in a gold Starter jacket with KNICKS emblazoned on the front and back. When I tell you that this man yelled, “Go Knicks,” I really mean that he screamed GO KNICKS!!!! at the top of his lungs. Tyler fist pumped and shouted back, “Go Knicks!”

The whole city has Knicks fever, and I’m trying not to catch it.

If you don’t know, I’m from Boston. I’m a Celtics fan. It’s extremely bad for my brand to be so enamored with a team from New York. I’m struggling to the point that I even made a video about it on Oddball.

But it’s getting harder and harder to resist this team, because what these Knicks are doing is the stuff of legend. Of myth.

Tyler has been a die-hard Knicks fan for as long as he’s been alive. When we first started dating, the team was very bad, because of course it was — the team has been very bad for a generation. New York hasn’t won a championship since 1973 and hasn’t been to the NBA Finals since 1999.

But there is hope again in The City of Hey I’m Walkin’ Here. And hope’s name is Jalen Brunson. The Knicks’ current star has more points in these NBA Playoffs than any other player in the league. He recently became only the fourth player to score 40 points in four straight playoff games.

But “A star” isn’t really the right term for Brunson. He is more like “the sun” in New York City. This town revolves around him now. He has given the fanbase something it hasn’t had in years, which is a real shot. He is a mirror of what this town is at its best: gritty, tough, adaptable, accountable, thrilling.

The Knicks are also just lovable, and — bear with me here — kind of cozy? It’s a family affair. Brunson’s dad is an assistant coach, and Brunson famously plays with his best friends from college, Donte DeVincenzo and Josh Hart (Hart and Brunson even host a pretty funny podcast together). Hart is another godsend for Knicks fans. He has played all 48 minutes of the last four games with the intensity ratcheted up to 11 for every single quarter. They go to work on the court and then goof around in press conferences, daring you not to fall in love with their public personas.

Game 2 of the playoffs’ second round against the Indiana Pacers cemented just how tough this Knicks team is. Three of their best players were out to start: Julius Randle, Bojan Bogdonavich, and Mitchell Robinson.

And about 3 minutes in, disaster struck again. Brunson hurt his foot and left the game. He returned at halftime, prompting a monstrous roar from the crowd at Madison Square Garden. It was clear that Brunson was battling through pain and running on adrenaline. Then, OG Anunoby — who put up 28 points in 28 minutes — got hurt and exited the game in the second half.

Brunson got hot in the fourth quarter and the Knicks won anyway. They lead the series 2-0 heading into tonight’s game in Indy.

OG is listed as out for tonight, and Brunson is questionable (which, knowing Brunson, means he’ll play). The team is basically playing with house money now. They have such a depleted roster that any wins from here on out become miracles.

They are Icarus, flying too close to the sun. Somehow, the wings haven’t fallen off yet.

Back in 2018, I wrote an article for Sports Illustrated called America Would Love These Celtics If They Weren’t From Boston. Because that 2018 team was delightful. Playful. Excited. Here’s what I wrote about the team’s unexpected run to the Eastern Conference Finals:

Their performance has exceeded expectations, but it’s the spirit with which guys like Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, Terry Rozier, Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown play that makes them so damn fun. It’s hard not to smile as Tatum sinks three after three, or as Smart throws his body around the court, or as Horford dunks the Cavs back to The Land Before LeBron Traded Everyone Away. We have Rozier to thank for some of of the best recent NBA beef, which he gave us when he called the Bucks’ Eric Bledsoe “Drew,” then wore an old Drew Bledsoe Patriots jersey before Game 1 against the Sixers. These guys are the cheeky underdogs shocking the world with absolutely delightful basketball. 

These days, the Knicks are the cheeky underdogs. Over the years, the Celtics have become a group of highly trained, emotionless assassins. The front office got rid of the guys who displayed the most heart on the court and replaced them with clinical mercenaries who drain threes. I can’t complain about the lack of fun vibes when Boston destroys any team it faces in the playoffs.

But I can complain when they lose by thirty instead. In the first round of the playoffs this year, Boston let Miami walk all over them in one game. Last night, in the second round, the Celtics waved the white flag against a lesser Cleveland Cavaliers team and put their bench players into the game in the fourth quarter. Boston lost 118-94. It was a home game, by the way. Celtics fans left the arena with five minutes left to play.

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There is an entitlement to the Celtics and their fans this year that is driving me absolutely crazy. A sense of, “Oh, well, if we can’t win now, we’ll just come back and destroy them tomorrow.” When things get difficult, they don’t keep fighting. They give up and hope to reset the next day. That’s not a super fun spirit to root for!

Jayson Tatum, one of Boston’s stars, was asked after the game whether the Celtics consider themselves a super team. He said they didn’t, and made all these excuses: they only had two All-Stars this year, coach Joe Mazzulla didn’t win Coach of the Year, etc.

That is so lame!!!! Awards don’t actually determine how good something is, first of all. If you base your self-worth off awards, you’re probably a sad person who works in media or entertainment. Secondly, the Celtics are a super team! They’ve got stars in Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis, Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, and a bench that can hit threes and step in on defense when called upon. They’re all healthy except for Porzingis. They won 64 of 82 games this season. They locked up the No. 1 seed a week before the season ended. That sounds pretty super to me. Own it!

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Boston’s excellence has been so much fun to witness this season. I love Holiday’s spirit, the way Porzingis loves being on the team. But last night opened an old wound: I missed Marcus Smart. The Celtics ruthlessly traded Smart, who’d been the heart of the team for nine years, to Memphis last year. Sure, the team is better without him. But I miss his intensity, his obvious joy and love for the game, the way he could fire up the rest of the guys. When the wins aren’t easy, the Celtics sometimes fold, and watching what the Knicks are doing makes the difference that much clearer.

I probably sound like the entitled fans I complained about, just in a different way. “My team is winning, but they’re not fun the way I want them to be.” But you know what? The Knicks’ constant drive and dedication inspires me, and Boston’s occasional “whatever” attitude does not. New York doesn’t give up, while last night, Boston threw in the towel.

Let me be clear: I haven’t traded in my Celtics for the Knicks. I would never be so silly. But I want to see more spirit from them, and I am tempted to go back to Boston and walk down the street wearing a Celtics hat. I’ll yell at everyone else wearing green, go to a game, and maybe we’ll light a fire in TD Garden. I’ll bring a bit of tinder from New York and see if we can set something ablaze.

In the meantime, go Knicks. But you didn’t hear it from me.