A Long Time Coming – by Jonathan Macri

Good morning! The rematch is tonight, with OKC coming off their first loss in 16 games. Can the Knicks make it two in a row? Join me and the KFS team at T2 Social as we find out together:

For OKC, Alex Caruso and Chet Holmgren are still out, while KAT and Deuce are both questionable. No half time tonight, but I’ll see you all on Sunday (reminder Bucks game tip-off is at 3 p.m.).

“I mean, he’s the legend. He’s the man who built Mecca. It’s a humbling experience for me to grow up and watch him play, for him to now see me play in Mecca.” Karl-Anthony Towns on playing in front of Patrick Ewing

Over the first two and a half months of this season, I wrote two odes to New York’s two-time MVP candidates, Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns.

They have been fun pieces to write, and helpful. Despite all the things I’m still getting used to about this Knicks team — the passing, the offense in general, the defensive ebb and flow, etc. – what I still haven’t been able to wrap my head around is having thaw legit, no-bullshit top dawgs who manage to equal each other more dangerous than they already are individually. Every time I delve into them, I gain an even greater appreciation for how fortunate we are to experience this era of Knicks basketball.

This is uncharted territory since the title years, though we’ve had some close conversations:

  • Julius and Jalen at their best were great, but they never reached the level of synergy that KAT and Jalen have. The front office was also clear on that reservations about making an investment in Randle that was commensurate with what a top-two player on a title team should be making, and I’m not sure anyone blames them.

  • Amar’e was in the middle of the MVP race at the time they traded for Melo, but his season (and knee…and career…sigh) started going downhill right around the time Anthony arrived. Their lasting legacy as teammates is that Carmelo was at his best when Stoudemire wasn’t by his side.

  • We got two close calls in the Ewing era, one at the beginning with Bernard and one at the end with Sprewell. The former never happened, and the latter came true after Pat was long past his prime.

The thing that makes me feel the worst about that last sentence? I know intellectually, that Ewing at his best was a far more complete player than Towns, and yet game after game, I find myself saying “I never root for a big man who can to.”