RUN IT BACK

Is it possible that the New York Knickerbockers, our Knicks, an ever-changing collection of orange and blue clad athletes down through the years, sometimes superb, sometimes not so superb, won the NBA Championship in early June? Can it be that we who wandered in the desert of lost basketball seasons for 53 years had watched the Larry O’Brien Trophy hoisted atop the shoulders of actual miracle workers in front of millions of regular folks lined up for miles along Broadway and on their screens?

There they go, the roommates with the stellar podcast, Hart and Brunson, with even more laughter and swagger than they had before, joking at the upcoming September 29 training camp opening press conference. There’s OG, fresh from The Shot best described as Biblical, no disrespect intended, running, stretching, getting ready. Mikal Bridges seems eager to keep showing he was worth all that draft capital. Kat, all 84 inches, newly married, lining up his 3-pointers as the first exhibition game begins in Philadelphia on October 5. New Yorker Alvarado. Fan favorites Shamet, McBride, Kolek, Clarkson. No longer rook Diawara. And leader, calm, deserving Mike Brown, with master packagers and planners Leon Rose and Worldwide Wes. All back for another round.

Did the greatest city in the world really put aside everything last spring to root, to pull, to push a group of men to the pinnacle that only after the dream was in the books seemed pre-ordained? Did we stop worrying that the greatest team in the world, like almost every team in every league, had become the play toys of billionaires and powerful interests, just like seemingly everything else? Did we put aside the frustration that renting one seat for three exhilarating hours had reached into the monthly salary range for most Americans?

Yes we did, New York, thankful that there were work-arounds with public and private viewing parties all over the city where people jumped out of their seats to cheer on a really good bunch of guys trying to make a little history.

Good history.

So here’s to you, New York Knickerbockers. We know no one has repeated since the 2018 Golden State Warriors because it’s a really hard thing to do. We know the competition’s been upgraded. Lebron’s come east. Giannis moved south. That really tall guy in Texas is a few months older, and presumably wiser. We know you’ll give it your best shots. That will be good enough for us. Hopefully enough of them will fall.