A Nets Fan’s Open Letter to the New York Knicks

Over the last 2 months, the New York Knicks decimation of the Eastern Conference has taken the basketball world by storm and galvanized the entire tristate area in the process. If you’re wondering why you’ve never heard me talk about the Knicks to this point, it’s probably because you’ve never heard me talk about anything (see 12 subscribers). In all seriousness, I’ve avoided jumping onboard the “KNICKS IN 4” gravy train because I am a Brooklyn Nets fan.

Believe it or not, there is an extremely niche demographic of basketball fans that were born in the early 90’s, grew up in North Jersey, and fell in love with the back-to-back Eastern Conference Champion New Jersey Nets. Jason Kidd, Kenyon Martin, and Keith Van Horn inspired my young self to go out back and chuck brick after brick against my poor, unsuspecting backboard.

While the team never had much success after those pair of Finals appearances, I still enjoyed watching all of the regular season games and donned a #15 jersey in whatever sport I played, in a desperate (failed) effort to embody the athleticism of Vince Carter.

By the time high school rolled around, the Nets were in the process of relocating to Prospect Heights, while the Knicks finally acquired some legitimate star power in the form of Amare Stoudemire and eventually Carmelo Anthony. Much of my Nets brethren converted to Knicks fans, leaving me and Derrick Favors alone on an island in the Prudential Center.

Despite this, I never had much, if any animosity towards the Knicks. Admittedly, this was largely due to the fact that they spent the rest of the 2010’s getting beat by Lebron and losing the draft lottery just like we did. My friends and I never spent any time or energy shit talking each other’s basketball teams simply because we were both falling on our faces in unison.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get a great deal of satisfaction when KD and Kyrie stunningly chose the Nets over the Knicks in the Summer of 2019. Of course, it didn’t take long for me to be humbled by this morsel of success as the Stephen A’s and WFAN callers danced on the predictably early grave that our “super” team now resides in.

I can honestly say that is about as heated this rivalry ever got for me. We’ve spent the past half-decade amassing late 1st round draft picks and getting banged by the lottery. Meanwhile the Knicks completely reinvented themselves and play one of the more entertaining brands of basketball the association has to offer.

The two teams have seemingly never been competitive at the same time and therefore there are no playoff series or even significant regular season games that stick out to me. Above all, a majority of fans that sit on the opposing side of the hardwood most likely share the Yankee Stadium bleachers, MetLife parking lot, or garden ice with me.

What started as me rooting for Philly and Boston to die painful deaths eventually turned into some legitimate support for the Knicks over the past 4 playoff runs. While you won’t see me joining in on the overly performative postgame festivities outside the Garden or even feeling a fraction of the glee true Knicks fans feel after each victory, it’s hard for me not to get any enjoyment out of the fact that the city is embracing a winner that it truly deserves.

There may come a day when this fandom from afar transitions into a crosstown rivalry but today is not that day. Given the fact that I make up a somewhat significant portion of it, I feel authorized to speak on behalf of Nets Nation when I say, “Go Finish the Job”.

This city is too good of a sports town to be without a championship for this long.

Good Luck, and Bing Bong.