Getty Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving share a laugh courtside at Barclays Center last season.
The Brooklyn Nets have the most star power in New York sports with their “big 3” of James Harden, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Durant. As a result, the Nets get most of the New York media attention. However, the Knicks are just one game back of the eighth seed in the east and have their own young star on the rise. KD has taken notice.
Kevin Durant Is Happy for Immanuel Quickley
The headliners of the 2020 NBA Draft were James Wiseman, Anthony Edwards, and LaMelo Ball. However, one hidden gem of last year’s draft was Knicks rookie guard Immanuel Quickley. Quickley is looking to join Jamal Murray, De’Aaron Fox, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as the next elite point guard to come out of Kentucky Head Coach John Calipari’s system. On the season Quickley is averaging 12.2 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 2.5 assists off the bench. One fan on Twitter asked Durant if he was upset over the attention that Quickley has been receiving on the other side of New York. However, the 2014 Most Valuable Player is excited about the rookie’s success. “I’m actually happy Immanuel is getting some love. So no,” KD said in response to the fan.
The Nets and Knicks Are Battling for New York Supremacy
From the moment that the Nets came to New York in 2012, residents from the city were forced to choose a side between Brooklyn’s team and the New York Knicks. In that time the Nets have had a lot more success than the Knicks. The Nets have gone to the playoffs five times while the Knicks have only two playoff appearances since 2012. However, the Nets have only made it out of the first round once in that period.
The battle for New York between the Nets and Knicks is a real thing. Even though the Nets are well-positioned to win multiple championships for the next few years the Knicks are still the big-ticket in the city. What will it take for the Nets to overthrow the Knicks and take the title of “New York’s Team” in the future? One New York Daily News reporter thinks it is something that only Knicks Owner James Dolan can mess up.
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“Something massive on the part of James Dolan,” is how New York Daily News reporter Kristian Winfield described what it would take for the Nets to become New York’s team. “Like a huge problem on Dolan’s part and then refusing to sell the team. Like it has to be like, I hope everybody in this city gets the Coronavirus or something like that. Something crazy the way you can no longer support James Dolan.” While Winfield understands that it would indeed take a massive scandal for the Nets to take the front seat in New York, he still acknowledges that the door is still open based on the Nets’ current roster. “For the Nets to become team number one in New York they would have to run the table,” says Winfield. “You got to run the table and either win two out of three titles or win all three in this in this time.”
One thing is certain when the Knicks are good, the NBA is way more enjoyable. If the Knicks can continue trending upwards and build a roster that can compete with the Nets, the battle for New York could get interesting.
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