Getty Nets' guard Kyrie Irving sizes up Knicks guard Derrick Rose.
The New York Knicks have been the laughingstock of the league in the last few years. The team that plays in America’s largest market city, while almost always honing the worst record in the association. A team that is always put in the conversation for big-time free agents and never closes the deal. While it has only been eight years since their last playoff appearance, fans and league personnel had completely abandoned the idea of New York ever reaching the same status as they once did.
However, this year proved to be a turning point for the Knicks. Under the leadership of head coach Tom Thibodeau and All-NBA candidate Julius Randle, New York is currently 4th place in the Eastern Conference standings; And with only four games left in the season, it seems that the team will make a playoff push for the first time since 2013.
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Derrick Rose Speaks on Nets & Knicks Recent Success
The Knicks had perhaps their biggest victory of the season on Sunday as they eked out a narrow 106-103 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. The win was due in large part to a vintage performance by former league MVP Derrick Rose who finished with 25 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists. The Knicks are currently the 4th seed in the Eastern Conference, just two spots behind their crosstown rival Brooklyn Nets. Rose spoke on the budding rivalry after the win.
“We have two great teams playing hard,” Rose said of the Knicks and Nets recent success per Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson.
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Rose Played Major Part in Nets Jersey Selection
This may be D-Rose’s second stint with the New York Knicks, but he is more closely tied with the Nets organization than most realize. Rose played a major part in the selection of Brooklyn’s team colors according to former Nets vice president Fred Mangione.
“The Nets considered a red-white-and-blue mark tied to their old ABA days with Julius Erving. They also looked at black and gold, colors symbolizing the borough of Brooklyn, but the scheme looked too much like the Pittsburgh Steelers,” Mangione said to Sports Business Journal in 2013 via Bleacher Report. “They settled on black as a primary color after finding out a nontraditional black jersey for Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose outsold a regular home jersey for Miami Heat star LeBron James”
Rose Glad To Be Back After Brutal COVID Battle
It is exciting for many NBA fans to see Rose back contributing with a contending team not only because of how his career had seemingly dwindled with the Detroit Pistons but also because he had a brutal battle with COVID earlier this season. Rose said it was one of the toughest uphill climbs that he has ever had to face.
“They say everybody is different, but with me, I never felt anything like that before,” Rose said via The Associated Press in March. “I’ve had the flu. It was nothing like the flu. It was that times 10. So, like I said, I am slowly getting back. I’m progressing every day and just trying to get back in the swing of things.”
Now that Rose is back and healthy, he and the Knicks are preparing for a playoff run which is something almost nobody expected before this year. With little expectation heading into the postseason, it is almost like the Knicks are playing with house money. It will be interesting to see just how far they can go.
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