Yeah, rooting for the Knicks
This Celtics' fan did it once and it was OK
I’m not really THAT conflicted about rooting for the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs these days. Yes, I’m a Boston Celtics’ fan and I’d much prefer seeing my Celtics going for another NBA title, their NINETEENTH. Get that? Going for a record 19th title. That will start next basketball season, which seems like it’s just a few weeks away.
But going back to my innocent youth, I did once root for the Knicks in Game Seven against the Los Angeles Lakers in 1970. I was 17, had my own little b/w TV in my upstairs bedroom and that was the game where Willis Reed made a last-minute appearance.
ABC’s Jack Tyman and Chris Schenkel were doing their pre-game chat and all of a sudden, there he was. He’d been injured, there was much doubt about whether or not he’d play and in those days, there was no “probable” or “questionable.” If the team trainer said he wouldn’t play, he wouldn’t play. Both announcers seemed surprised, which was cool. There’s an element we don’t see enough of these days - surprise. Everybody has to know everything.
Since I hated the Lakers anyway - and still do - it wasn’t that much of a reach for me to hope the Knicks would win. And being a sentimental sort of kid, seeing Reed sort of limp his way around, hitting his first two shots and inspiring his team to victory, it was good for the Knicks. Seems a long time ago, eh, Knick fans?
Now I always liked Gumby. Maybe you don’t see Victor that way but I can’t find any way to root for a guy who, at one point, jumped up to catch a lob pass AND HIS ELBOWS WERE ABOVE THE RIM. His arms are so loooooong, they made me think of Gumby! Hey, when you are literally head and shoulders taller than everybody around you who, in turn, are head and shoulders taller than most of the rest of the world, shouldn’t you expect to win? That’s where San Antonio is.
Victor Wembanyama is not only 7 feet 4, he’s from France, for goodness sakes. Are you going to turn an NBA title over to someone twice the size of Napoleon? They call him “The Alien.” Is this a clever NBA promotion for the new Steve Spielberg film “Disclosure Day”?
After the Celtics fell apart in Game Seven a while back, I decided not to watch any more NBA basketball this season. I’d had enough of seeing stupid missed 3-pointers from 40 feet out and whoever inbounded the ball, dribbling up and shooting it without a pass to a teammate. Then I broke down and watched Game One.
The Knicks’ brilliant Jalen Brunson, even with a really bogus hairstyle, won me over. He made me reach back for a word that the old-time sportswriters used to use all the time. There really hasn’t been a need for that word lately with the way the game has changed. But Brunson is nifty. Nifty! He is like those guys you play one-on-one with who find the absolute damndest ways of making shots that shouldn’t go in but they do. Again and again and again. He is the key to the Knicks’ offense and the series, really.
This is not lost on the Spurs. The Spurs’ Stephon Castle actually forearmed him to the floor last night and in San Antonio, it definitely would have been whistled for an intentional foul. But it being New York, that sort of thing is commonplace in the subway stations, the sidewalk, the beer concession at Yankee Stadium. So it was just a two-shot foul. And Brunson wasn’t quite the same whirling dervish the rest of the game and the Spurs held on for a four-point win.
Finally, let me say this about the NBA. I came in at the very end of Bill Russell’s illustrious NBA career, you know, 11 championships in 13 seasons. He was known for his defense and his shot blocking. He didn’t do the LeBron shot block and knock the ball into the stands, a big macho move. Often, he’d direct it to a teammate and start a fast break and an easy Celtics’ basket. It was strategic.
Having watched three games now, I cannot count how many times I’ve seen players on both teams take the ball to the hole. Hundreds, it seems. And other than an occasional “Alien” swat - he’s 7-feet-4 for God’s sakes! - both teams are flying to the hoop as if they were on Jet Blue.
Now, the NBA Finals MVP award is named for Russell. Whoever wins it - I’m pulling for Brunson, bad haircut and all - just remember that those who suggest the NBA players now are so much better than the Bob Cousy’s and Johnny Havlicek’s of days gone by, I can tell you that Bill Russell would never have let so many men drive to the hoop without getting a Wilson sandwich or two or three. Defending your basket meant something in those days. He won 11 titles in 13 seasons. Pretty good plan.
:
Awful officiating. No wonder refs wear colors of the Spurs.