True New Yorkers Wear Orange and Blue
“It’s not your fault,” Dr. Sean Maguire (portrayed by the late Robin Williams) whispers to Will Hunting (a young Matt Damon) in his office. “It’s not your fault,” is repeated no less than ten times in one of the most iconic scenes from the 1997 groundbreaking film Good Will Hunting. Despite Will adamantly saying “I know,” he can’t maintain his hard outer shell, and instead breaks down, shedding years of emotional weight in the process.
As a die hard Knicks fan, I think about this scene often. I think about how it’s not my fault that we’ve become the laughing stock of the NBA over the last 20 years, which just so happens to be my entire fandom of the orange and blue. It’s not my fault that general manager Isiah Thomas handed out enormous contracts to Jerome James, and Eddy Curry, two guys who played less than 50% of their contracts. It’s not my fault that we’ve had more head coaches than playoff wins over the last decade. It’s not my fault that Dolan ordered then-President of Basketball Operations, Donnie Walsh, to trade for Carmelo Anthony mid-season, despite Anthony himself saying he would sign with us in the off-season, thus leaving him with a team in shambles, instead of one with a balance of youth and experience. And it’s certainly not my fault that we haven’t resigned any of our draft picks to a multi-year deal since Charlie Ward in 1994 (I’ll be sure to dedicate another post or two to the 2015 draft pick that I assumed would break this streak).
I’ve been told by many that the Knicks were one of the iconic teams of the 1990’s. I heard so much about the incredible playoff battles against Michael Jordan’s Bulls, Reggie Miller’s Pacers, Alonzo Mourning’s Heat, Shaquille O’Neal’s Magic, and making the Finals twice: in 1994 vs Hakeem Olujawon’s Rockets, and in 1999 vs Tim Duncan’s Spurs. However, being born in 1995 means I basically missed all of this, and my first Knicks jersey (and first favorite player) was Latrell Spreewell’s #8, an All-Star in 2001.
From one of the first Knicks games I ever attended at the Mecca of basketball.
The first time I ever played NBA Jam on my Nintendo 64, I used the Knicks with Marcus Camby and Spree. I knew so little about the sport at the time that I used Camby as a point guard exclusively. Years later, you can imagine my surprise when I found out he was a perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate for protecting the paint!
My favorite on-court memories don’t involve any of the players whose jerseys currently hang in the rafters at the World’s Most Famous Arena. My first YouTube username in 2007 was “NYKDL42,” named after David Lee, our 2nd round draft pick who would go on to become the city’s first home-grown All-Star since Patrick Ewing. Attending Knicks Camp at Basketball City is where I fell in love with the game, and I was lucky enough to not only meet, but get autographs from Lee himself, Nate Robinson, Walt “Clyde” Frazier, and John Starks. When I was 13, my dad and I introduced ourselves to Danilo Gallinari at an Upper West Side bagel spot. My dad made sure to mention that I would one day be his point guard for the Knicks (classic New York dad move).
Meeting Walt “Clyde” Frazier at Basketball Camp.
When you’re a Knicks fan, you convince yourself that every player who dons the iconic blue and orange threads is going to become a great player. Twenty four year-old Eddy Curry averaged 19 and 7 bounds in 2006-07, and he was instantly the next Shaq in my eyes. When we brought in Steve Francis to join Stephon Marbury in the backcourt in 2006, that was going to be the greatest duo since PB + Jelly. Jamal Crawford was a shiftier Ray Allen, and Nate Rob was a miniature Allen Iverson (I mean, he even hit a game winner over his idol). I even convinced myself that despite Jared Jeffries’ inability to catch a basketball, he still had value for the squad.
In the early 1980s, Clyde used to frequent an Upper East Side restaurant that my Mom managed. He ordered the fried zucchini sticks often, and was never seen without his fur coat. Years later, she reunited with the Knicks Legend at his Basketball Camp that I was attending. To me, Clyde is still the face of the franchise. He led us to our only two championships in 1969 and 1972, he was the coolest cat in the league (those outfits were so ahead of their time), and he’s dedicated his post-playing career to calling games for MSG Network. He bleeds orange and blue like no other player in the franchise’s history. Mike Breen (the NBA’s best play-by-play announcer) and Frazier’s voices have been the soundtrack to nearly every Knicks game I’ve watched. Where else would I have learned the phrase “the precocious neophyte” or “matador defense?” Besides, you can always tell how much Breen relishes the opportunity to yell his iconic “Bang!” whenever a Knicks player drills a clutch shot. The two of them make for the league’s premier broadcast team, and their friendship is a treat for all fans.
My friends call me a Knicks optimist because I always look for the silver lining in every scenario. I find reasons why trades had to be made, rationalize why draft picks were good decisions at the time, and why coaches deserved more time to implement their system. I believe in every player’s potential while they play at the Garden, and it’s not until they play for someone else (they always play for someone else), that I’m reminded they probably weren’t as good as I’d thought. For 20 years, outside of a few fleeting moments (like Linsanity in 2012, and the 54 win squad in 2013, led by an MVP-caliber season from Carmelo), this fandom has been a challenge.
Nonetheless, I continue to believe that glory will be returned to the Garden. One day, there will be postseason battles that bring the city joy, and perhaps even a couple of championship banners lofted into the rafters, to join the ones from 1969 and 1972 that must be getting lonely hanging from the ceiling. Maybe it’s risky to even start those types of daydreams; for now, I will do what I always do and continue to latch onto whoever plays for the current roster, in hopes they can be the ones to figure this all out. The Garden was once Eden, and I’ve chosen the optimistic approach to believe that greatness will bloom there once again.
