Up next in 10
A lot of people around the country are annoyed by the New York Knicks.
The loud fans.
The national media cheerleaders.
The endless attention.
But D.A. says you're looking at this all wrong.
Because if the Knicks can win a championship after 53 years of dysfunction, heartbreak, bad ownership, failed rebuilds, busted draft picks, and free-agent disasters...
Then there's hope for everybody.
This isn't just a Knicks story.
It's a story for every fan of a long-suffering franchise that has waited decades to believe again.
And there's something else.
In an era where everything feels divided, New York City has come together. People from every neighborhood, every background, every walk of life in America's most diverse city are celebrating together.
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
For those outside of New York, the
0:02
Knicks are probably a very unlikable
0:06
team because of their fan base, because
0:10
of a loud mouthy media from New York,
0:15
because you see some Tik Tok videos and
0:18
you're like, "These people are heathens
0:20
and mutants." And I'll be honest, I
0:23
don't blame you because there's an
0:25
element of all of that that really
0:27
bothers me as well.
0:29
However, the New York Knicks are also a
0:33
bestcase
0:34
scenario for every one of you as sports
0:38
fans. Every single one of you. I am
0:41
convinced of this and I will tell you
0:42
why.
0:44
When you have a 53year
0:48
drought, which has been pockmarked by
0:52
poor ownership and terrible decisions
0:54
with personnel and failures in big spots
0:57
and becoming a punchline, even when you
1:00
try,
1:03
there is a feeling of no hope because
1:05
whatever changes, you can move the chest
1:09
pieces around the Titanic, but
1:10
ultimately the thing is still going to
1:12
sink. And that has been the reality for
1:16
the New York Knicks for 50 some odd
1:19
years. Try, try, try, but at the end of
1:23
the day, you will lose. And particularly
1:26
the James Dolan era, it has been nothing
1:30
but disaster and dysfunction and
1:34
embarrassment and tabloid fodder.
1:38
And yet here we are with a few strategic
1:42
tweaks to that power structure and the
1:46
Knicks are on the verge of winning an
1:49
NBA finals.
1:51
So, this should be hope that you too, if
1:55
you root for an organization that seems
1:57
to have an obstinate, obnoxious, awful
2:01
owner that can't get out of his own way
2:04
and will never learn from his own
2:06
mistakes because he's completely clouded
2:08
in ego and arrogance and power, it too
2:12
can change for you. It can change.
2:16
James Dolan did have to recede into the
2:19
background, but there was enough losses
2:21
over the course of the years. Enough
2:24
public black eyes over the years where
2:26
he was willing to try almost anything.
2:29
And he tried Phil Jackson and it was an
2:34
absolute calamity. And more recently, he
2:37
tried Leon Rose, which was a big risk,
2:40
let's face it. He handed the keys over
2:43
to a guy who had never been an NBA
2:45
executive, merely an agent to power
2:49
brokers and powerful stars in the NBA.
2:53
And the Knicks handed over the keys to a
2:56
guy who had never done this in the past.
2:58
And Leon Rose began to put back in piece
3:02
back respectability
3:06
and credibility within the organization.
3:09
And what they did not do under Leon Rose
3:12
was something that they always did,
3:14
which was try to find the highest paid
3:17
or the highest price free agent and slap
3:20
him together with absolutely no concern
3:23
for chemistry. Rose began doing the
3:27
opposite. The Knicks signed Jaylen
3:30
Brunson, who was more winner than he was
3:34
stats. He was not a superstar. He was
3:38
more a guy that you had to believe in
3:39
his DNA.
3:42
They also began piecing together his
3:44
former teammates from Villanovva. They
3:47
made the trade for Carl Anthony Towns.
3:49
And let's face it, Cat had plenty of
3:51
warts on him when he came to New York.
3:54
They spent a lot on male Bridges and
3:56
Bridges not seem like he was pulling his
3:58
end of the bargain. And yet here he is
4:00
in the playoffs and the finals and
4:02
playing a significant role. They didn't
4:05
go after the biggest names, the biggest
4:07
stars. They pieced it together in how it
4:09
would work.
4:11
And the Knicks are doing this. And the
4:13
Knicks are doing this in front of a city
4:16
that is now alive with Nick's passion.
4:20
And yeah, the the bing bong crew that
4:23
that sits outside of Madison Square
4:25
Garden, looks for a fight, and is just
4:27
simply kind of trying to jostle the way
4:30
not jostle their way into online views
4:32
can be very annoying. But they are
4:34
counterbalanced, I can tell you, by a
4:36
city with more diversity perhaps than
4:39
any other city we have in America.
4:42
Really unifying. And it is a gorgeous
4:45
thing. And it is something that really
4:47
only sports can do. It is one of the
4:50
reasons, one of the most significant
4:52
reasons I work in sports. And I felt
4:54
like it was important to dedicate my
4:55
life and my career to sports is because
4:58
we live in an increasingly divided
5:00
society and country. And the one thing
5:03
that always will cut through is sports.
5:08
And it is one of the prominent reasons
5:11
that I do not do politics in the middle
5:13
of this show or any show that I do. I
5:16
try really hard because this needs to be
5:19
a place of unification. Sports needs to
5:22
be a sacred place where everybody feels
5:26
comfortable and welcome because when it
5:28
works, it is absolutely incredible. And
5:32
I'm watching these visions, these images
5:36
of around New York City
5:39
where people are just throwing up a big
5:42
screen projection TV in the middle of
5:43
the street and the entire neighborhood
5:46
is sitting down in lawn chairs with an
5:49
ice cold beer drink in their hand and
5:51
watching this together. Total strangers,
5:54
complete strangers are coming together
5:56
from all walks of life. And when you see
5:58
crowds that are dancing and hooting and
6:01
hollering outside Madison Square Garden
6:03
or somewhere else in New York City and
6:05
they're all dancing together, you are
6:06
watching people from completely
6:09
different age groups and societal
6:12
backgrounds and religions
6:14
and they are all dancing together. I saw
6:18
a video from a sports bar in Brooklyn
6:21
where a middle-aged white couple,
6:23
probably like in their 50s, were singing
6:26
every bar, every verse to a Biggie song,
6:30
and they were celebrating a a Nick's
6:32
victory. I saw Orthodox Jews dancing
6:36
with African-American kids in the middle
6:38
of the streets. I am watching whites and
6:42
blacks and browns and yellows and
6:45
everything together come together and
6:48
just be unified in joy.
6:52
And that is the most powerful thing we
6:54
have right now in society. As our
6:58
elected officials and as our social
7:01
media and tech bros try to rip us apart
7:05
because it benefits them. Sports cuts
7:08
through it constantly. It cuts through
7:10
it. It rallies us all together. And I am
7:14
so pleased to see this happening in a
7:18
city that has more diversity and
7:22
eclectic backgrounds than any other
7:24
place that I know of. All coming
7:27
together. So,
7:30
a the Knicks run should be incredibly
7:34
encouraging to fans of franchises that
7:37
have been losers forever. We are on the
7:40
precipice of yet another long jinx
7:42
drought being broken in the NBA. We saw
7:46
the Cavs do this in 2016.
7:49
We saw the Nuggets do this a couple of
7:51
years ago. You know, the Warriors have
7:54
become a modern day dynasty, but when
7:55
they first won in 2015, they had not won
7:57
in 40 years going back to 1975.
8:02
We saw the Toronto Raptors break through
8:04
and win a championship. We have seen
8:07
consistently
8:09
these teams in the NBA and then beyond.
8:12
I don't know if you would consider the
8:13
thunder in a drought, but that was their
8:16
first championship. We're seeing in
8:18
hockey, we're seeing in basketball,
8:20
we're seeing in baseball. Obviously, the
8:22
Chicago Cubs, the Washington Nationals,
8:25
the the the Houston Astros, the Texas
8:28
Rangers, the Kansas City Royals. These
8:30
are all recent vintage champions that
8:33
snapped long droughts or had their first
8:35
ever championship in franchise history.
8:38
The Knicks are about to do the same
8:40
thing, and it should give a lot of hope
8:42
to a lot of people and
8:45
a realization that sports conquers
8:48
division. And that is really, really
8:52
important.
8:56
And this is coming from a guy that swore
8:58
off the Knicks a long time ago. I was a
9:01
Knicks fan in the 90s. I loved Anthony
9:04
Mason. I loved Starks. I had a poster on
9:08
my wall growing up of John Starks and
9:10
that dunk in 1993 over the Chicago
9:12
Bulls. The dunk.
9:16
I loved those teams. I loved Oakley. I
9:19
loved Riley. I loved what they stood
9:21
for. Teamwork, tenacity, toughness.
9:24
I really, really loved those teams. And
9:26
then all of that went away when James
9:28
Dolan hired Isaiah Thomas. And Isaiah
9:33
brought everything that those Knicks
9:36
teams weren't. And they were all highric
9:39
free agents and mercenaries. And nobody
9:41
cared about the jersey. And nobody cared
9:44
about the fans. Nobody cared about the
9:45
legacy. and they trashed all and they
9:48
lit fire to it and Isaiah got into the
9:50
sexual assault scandal and it was
9:52
terrible. The whole thing was terrible
9:53
and I swore off the Knicks forever. I
9:55
would never get over that because they
9:58
destroyed what it was to be what had
10:00
been built there and I'll never go back
10:03
and I can't go back. And so I enjoy
10:05
being a Knicks agitator because I
10:08
remember what they did 25 years ago in
10:12
lighting the place on fire. James Dolan
10:14
and Isaiah Thomas together. But even I
10:17
can see how positive this all is. And
10:19
that is also a Knicks team that the
10:22
players do truly care about one another
10:26
and they truly care about this cause.
10:28
This is not a bunch of jaded, overpaid
10:31
mercenaries led by Jaylen Brunson. And
10:34
there's a million reasons why this is
10:36
working, but the most important thing is
10:39
boy do they care about the common cause.
10:41
And that's the only thing that matters.
10:42
stats clearly don't followers on social
10:46
media doesn't they are bonded by a
10:49
common cause which is title or nothing
10:51
and they're about to do
#Sports