Knicks management, players and fans rejoice! For the first time in what feels like decades, the spotlight of criticism and failure to win is finally moving from Herald Square to Brooklyn.
After the early morning trade of Kevin Durant to Phoenix by the Nets, the Big 3 experiment concocted by Brooklyn is officially over and the team is in rebuild mode.
That means that the Knicks can, at least for a few days, finally take a deep, clean breath devoid of the venomous hate and critiques that polluted the air hovering over Madison Square Garden, for it has made its way over to Barclays and Industry City in Brooklyn.
Since the Nets first moved to Brooklyn in the summer of 2012, it has stolen some of the cultural shine that the Knicks long enjoyed.
Backed by billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, who bought the team in 2010, and Jay-Z, the Nets quickly injected the culture into the team.
Gone were the New Jersey connections and in stepped Brooklyn heritage and hip hop.
From Brooklyn/Crooklyn Dodger Blue to Coogi designs, the team adopted the borough’s heritage.
As neighborhoods like Williamsburgh, Fort Green and Park Slope gentrified, some Manhattanites moved across the bridge to take up residency in the suddenly trendy Brooklyn, which attracted even more residents from outside of the city and state.
Then they started claiming and supporting the Nets, many not even knowing the team’s history. It was simply because it was trendy, hip and the apparel said “Brooklyn.”
The team went even further by running ads across subway stations and city billboards. They even placed a billboard in Hell’s Kitchen, a few short blocks away from the Garden, further encroaching upon the Mecca of basketball and the home of the Knicks.
Knicks fans felt the rise of the Brooklyn upstarts, but they refused to relinquish their place in basketball and cultural lore.
New York is basketball but make no mistake. The Knicks are the city’s team.
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