Knickerbocker Fever
Is Something Happening Here?
I think I can exhale now. I can breathe. I can dream.
I’ve been a Knicks fan since they won their first title when I was 7. I’ve lived through good times — the Captain and Clyde, Pearl, DeBusschere, and Bradley, and Barnett and later Ewing, Starks, Oak, and Houston — and the bad times.
I listened on the radio when they lost in ‘72 and won in ‘73. I watched Michael Jordan and then Hakeem Olajuwon stymie their efforts during the Ewing years. Lived through the ugliness of the late-’70s and the Isiah Thomas and Phil Jackson years. Marveled at the brilliance of Bernard King and Carmelo Anthony, and bemoaned the failure to surround them with the kind of talent that would have made the team real contenders.
What we are living through now, the Jalen Brunson era, feels different than anything I’ve witnessed since those early 1970s Knickerbockers.
This feels special. Their ability to take a punch, to borrow from boxing, and to get back up and not just endure but thrive, to punch back and win by knock out is a rare thing. The way they responded in Atlanta, down 2-1 in the series, under immense criticism, to remake their offense and then run off seven straight and earn a trip to the conference finals was special.
They won their eighth straight last night to take a 1-0 lead against the Cavaliers. It wasn’t easy — the Knicks were cold and being out played in all facets of the game by Cleveland. They were down 22 with about seven minutes left — all but dead in the water.
Enter Brunson — the Brunson Burner, Captain Clutch, Big Body Brunson — who put the team on his back and willed them to victory.
It was special. It was amazing. And if they manage to pull off what still looks like long odds — the Spurs and Thunder remain the betting favorites — we will remember what happened last night.
I make no predictions, but I believe. Yes. I believe.
