Photo: David L. Nemec/NBAE/Getty Images
The period since the COVID-bubble season has been among the most successful in Knicks history: The five post-COVID years have encompassed 226 regular-season wins, the most over a five-year stretch since 1992 to 1997. It has also been the most joyous period since the ’90s: The Knicks have been a feel-good story for nearly the entire Tom Thibodeau coaching era, from “Bing Bong” to the Nova Knicks. They finally won a first-round playoff series this century, then did so again. But beyond that, it has felt good to be a Knicks fan because the Knicks have felt like something they have never, ever felt like — they have felt insurgent. These were not the lumbering collection of Jim Dolan past-their-prime expensive veteran misfit toys of the past 20 years. The Knicks were fun. The Knicks! Were fun!
The fun ended this year. These Knicks have felt vaguely disappointing from the season’s very beginning. They have battled injuries up and down the roster, including a full month without Jalen Brunson. They have played middling, uninspired defense. Faced with loud criticism that he is giving his veterans too many minutes (a possible reason for all the injuries), Thibodeau has stubbornly refused to make adjustments. The team is 0-8 against the top two in the Eastern Conference, Cleveland and Boston. The Knicks begin their playoff run against the Pistons at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, but if you run into a fan this week, you’re likely to find them grouchy, morose, and pessimistic. “The regular season — perhaps mercifully — is over,” wrote Jonathan Macri, a reliable fan-base bellwether, in his excellent Knicks newsletter this week.
You may be surprised, then, to learn that these Knicks are actually the best post-COVID team yet. They won the most games (51) of the lot, they will likely land two players on the All-NBA team (Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns), and they are extremely well positioned against the Pistons, a feisty and spirited team that is nevertheless only a year removed from the longest losing streak in NBA history. This year’s Knicks, thanks to the addition of Towns and Mikal Bridges, would absolutely destroy last year’s inspirational Nova Knicks; there hasn’t been a Knicks team better constructed to win a title since Patrick Ewing was here. Yet everyone’s so mad!
The problem, as it does so often, comes down to expectations. When the Knicks traded Julius Randle and (Nova Knick) Donte DiVincenzo to the Timberwolves for Towns, then traded a bushel of draft picks to the Nets for Bridges (using the stash they’d been accumulating for years to acquire a superstar), the understanding was the Knicks had reached their completed form — they were ready to win a championship right then and there, and this was the team we had all been waiting for. They had been so patient, so careful not to make the rash, stupid move Dolan always pushed for in the past, that the Towns and Bridges trades took on an unsustainable weight. It wasn’t charming just to make the playoffs anymore or even to win a round or two: The Knicks had to be champions, now, or all this time was wasted and they would just be the same old Knicks again. And as good as the Knicks have been this year (and I keep saying this to every downtrodden Knicks fan I find — they have been good!), they have not looked like championship contenders, especially against the likes of Boston, who loom in the second round of the playoffs.
Several reasonable factors explain why the Knicks haven’t seemed to make a monumental leap. One is that it’s the first season featuring the Knicks’ dramatically rejiggered roster, one that is playing a different style from last year’s and hasn’t quite gotten it all figured out yet. (It should be noted that the Celtics had several face-plants before winning their title last year.) Another is that Bridges has been a little disappointing as the final piece of that puzzle. Another is injuries. And then there’s the simple fact that winning a championship is really hard.
But the answer everyone seems to be settling on? The coach. The Knicks’ turnaround of late has been in many ways directly attributable to Thibodeau, whose high-intensity, every-game-matters approach provided a direction for a franchise that sorely needed one. But as has happened at Thibodeau’s other stops (Chicago and Minnesota), eventually his approach tends to grind teams down and wear a little thin. The man has a habit of staying a year or two past his welcome. You’ve clearly seen that with Knicks fans this year, who have blamed Thibodeau for the injuries, the defensive issues, the lack of offensive creativity, the exhaustion with Ben Stiller’s tweets. And it does make sense. The Knicks could likely benefit from some fresh eyes on this team, one that is built to win in a way (essentially, to copy the Celtics) that is not necessarily Thibodeau’s inherent forte. If the Knicks don’t make it past Boston — or, God forbid, lose to the Pistons in the first round — it’s not difficult to see Thibodeau taking the fall and not entirely without reason.
Yet that’s still not the explanation for this outstanding season having felt so unsatisfying. The reason is the Knicks have reached the point where they have compiled enough talent — and it should be noted just how fantastic Towns, long derided by the fan base as a potential trade target, has truly been — that there’s nowhere left to go but to win a championship. Ten NBA teams could theoretically win a title this year, and the Knicks are one of them. They’re not the favorites, far from it, and the most likely scenario is a second-round exit to the Celtics, Thibodeau being fired, and all sorts of fear and loathing in the Knicks’ front office. But the reason all this stress and scowling is happening is because the Knicks are so good! Have we forgotten what the past 30 years of being a Knicks fan has been like? That we can find ourselves disappointed by a 51-win season is a measure of just how far we’ve come. Usually around this time of year, Knicks fans are wondering which team will select a future superstar in the NBA Draft with a pick the Knicks traded away for some expensive old guy with bad knees. Instead, we’re discussing how the vibes on this historically excellent Knicks team just don’t feel right. That’s progress. That’s actually pretty amazing.
The Knicks feel slightly disappointing relative to expectations. But that’s only because they’ve been awesome enough to get our expectations so high in the first place. That makes right now — even without Bing Bong, even with everybody’s shoulders slouched — as good a time to be a Knicks fan as it has been in a long, long while. The Knicks are in the playoffs! They’ve got a chance to win a title! Or at least a series! C’mon! Knicks fans have been through nothing but misery for so long. These are the good times. Try to enjoy them.
