BLEEDING ORANGE & BLUE

AKA How I Stopped Hating and Learned To Love The 2025-2026 Knicks

This is a non-writing, non-martial arts article that’s gonna shock more than a few friends of mine. I’m a known NBA fan, for decades, and also known to have hated the Knicks for, well, years. But they won me over (and, it wasn’t just because of the Finals, I must tell ya, they began winning me over in December and slowly drew me in during the past six months), and even had they not won the NBA championship last night (but they did), I would still love this team, and don’t worry, Imma tell you why.

The first issue to address is, why did I not love them before?

I didn’t simply not love them, I hated them. Oh, I did. I went to games, and hated them. I really do. But first, some context for those who live outside of New York City.

The Knicks are beloved by New Yorkers. This, I admit. Even though I didn’t like them, I respected my neighbors’ love for them. There is a long, deep, and everlasting love for this team from the city. It’s rooted, IMO, in the championships they won in the early 70s, the teams that triumphed. There’s a story there that carries an important factor that I will return to later. But it is exactly why the city wept tears of joy last night.

Tears colored blue and orange.

I’m not going to get into my favorite teams or players, because this isn’t about them, and I’ve been right about some teams, players, and wrong about others. I’m a fan of the game, even though I can’t play it that well. But this post is about the Knicks.

I moved here in the early 90s, when the team went to the Finals in 1994 and 1999.

Those teams great competitors, were awful bullies. Entitled, awful bullies who played dirty, who got into fights, who talked a lot of shit, and were not, for me, admirable. As a matter of fact, the new rules addressing NBA fights are linked directly to the New York Knicks. Here’s one example, from Game Three of the Playoffs in 1994:

Now, to be fair (I always think of the show LETTERKENNY when I write that), I don’t put the above on the players as much as I do the coaches and the NBA itself. This is what the NBA wanted; they wanted to frame competition as war, they called players warriors, etc.

It’s also why I shake my head when Dana White goes off on his fighters fighting at the weigh-in. Dude, you’re pushing this antagonism, and you’re surprised when it flares?

But Pat Riley (more on him later) infamously pushes the antagonism; he would fine his players if they knocked an opponent down and then helped them up. Fine them money if they showed empathy or compassion to an opponent. Fine them if they were too nice to other players.

And to be even more fair, this was the winning strategy of the Detroit Pistons during their Bad Boy era, featuring Isiah Thomas (more on him later), and they learned it from the Boston Celtics, who were terrible bullies. So we had decades of basketball where the way you won was to play dirty, to talk shit, and to even hurt or injure your opponent, even if your opponent is a friend (lots of NBA players are friends, even when not on the same team).

That’s also my way of saying, I hate the Celtics and always have.

Because if there’s any through-line in any of my work as a writer, as a martial artist, as a human being, it is that I cannot stand bullies… I don’t like bullies who pick on the weak, who crow and humiliate others as a way of lifting themselves.

Which was, in my opinion, the 90s Knicks. Here’s another brawl, this time against the Miami Heat, now coached by Pat Riley (remember him?)

That Knicks team featured some brutal enforcers, beyond Patrick Ewing. Larry Johnson, Charles Oakley, and Anthony Mason, massive men who loved to fight. They were tough. New Yorkers loved them because they were tough. John Starks, in particular, was beloved because of his fiestiness, his willingness to scrap.

I didn’t care for it because I felt at the time that they believed themselves to be entitled to a championship, that they deserved it simply for being who they were. And, in my opinion, when things didn’t go their way, they played dirty (like Charlie Ward trying to undercut PJ Brown above), or they fought and tried to hurt you. Here’s another clip from the following year, and this was the brawl that began automatic suspensions for any player running off the bench to fight.

Notice that’s Miami coach Pat Riley. And Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy hanging onto Alonzo’s ankle like an angry terrier trying to stop a Great Dane.

They were tough, they were mean, and that’s why a lot of New Yorkers liked them. I get it. I understand that. It’s not really what I cared for, however.

Because they also (at that time) bragged about money, bragged about style (clothes), and bragged about themselves. They often fought with each other as much as they did the opposing players. They bitched about “touches” (who gets to touch the ball), their stats, and their points. Other folks may not remember, but I do.

They felt they deserved a championship simply for being big, mean, and tough.

And look, I’m not dismissing toughness, meanness, or competitiveness. And there are a few players on those squads I actually liked (Patrick!), however, I don’t believe in punching down. Punch up, not down. It’s like, when I played at a park game in Queens, and a guy would dunk on the smallest player on the court, and then preen and brag about it… dude… you’re six foot seven, he’s five-seven, what are you bragging about? Of course you can dunk on someone a foot shorter than you.

Punching down is, in my opinion, what bullies do. I dislike it. The Knicks, as an organization, did that quite often. Even to their own players. The team treated their most loyal, hardworking player terribly near the end of his career… they traded Patrick Ewing to Seattle. Patrick didn’t deserve that. And when Patrick began coaching, he wasn’t hired by the Knicks. Ugh.

I felt they were bullies, the 90s era teams, but I respected them. I would lose that respect in the next couple of decades. Because the team became even more entitled, more spoiled, especially when they hired Isiah Thomas (remember him?) as Team President. That was a terrible time in Knicks Basketball.

Thomas, an egotist, believed in stars, believed in bullying, believed in entitlement. He later pled guilty to sexual harassment (and after pleading guilty, gave a press conference claiming he was totally innocent… dude, if you’re innocent, don’t plead guilty), and the choices made by the team during that time are better left described by someone other than me.

There was a bright spot, which was the Linsanity era, which took the team (and everyone) by surprise.

But it created problems because Lin was a bench player, and Carmelo was supposed to be the star of the Knicks (and, uh, there’s a lot of entitlement floating throughout the Carmelo era of Knicks history), and led to Lin leaving NYC soon.

And that entitlement isn’t limited to the players, the president, or the coaches… the owner of the team is James Dolan, a billionaire and friend of Trump. The less said about that, the better.

There was a lot to hate for a working-class guy who hates bullies.

I will admit this, though. When the Knicks sucked (which they did for a long time), and their overpaid stars whined or cried or didn’t do the work, the fans let them KNOW. The fans were honest about who they loved, who they thought could and should do better; they weren’t blindly faithful fans, they were fans who recognized themselves in terms of team, and who punished those who didn’t honor that recognition. Always. I respected Knicks fans, even if I didn’t always respect the Knick teams that they cheered on. And there’s another, deeper reason for this respect.

I came of age during the Bulls dynasty, coached by Phil Jackson. Jackson, an entirely unique human in basketball and, well, in life, has written a few books that I have read. He was also on both of those championship teams in 1970 and 1973. He shared in detail why they were the success that they were.

The Knicks of the early seventies weren’t really fancy, weren’t huge stars… not like their opponents, the Lakers, who had Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, etc.

The Knicks were lead by Willis Reed and Walt “Clyde” Frazier, and they worked hard. They represented the city in that they were solidly working class, lunchpail athletes… they showed up, sweated, bled and worked hard, did their job, went home.

The city, then going through a major recession, needed working class heroes like them. And then Willis got hurt, was going to have to miss game seven, but showed up anyway and… magic was made.

Now, Reed made his first shot, and would make another, but he didn’t WIN the game, the other players did (especially Clyde Frazier, who was amazing) but Willis showed them the way, showed them that it’s not over until its over, and they outworked the Hollywood team and won their first championship.

Three years later, they’d do it again.

Those teams were modest, hardworking men who cared about each other more than the fame and fortune (Frazier is unique in that he never, ever received a technical foul in his entire career)… these were the teams that cemented the love of the city, and they did it while winning two championships.

And last night, 53 years after that, the Knicks did it again. Which we all know.

But here’s what has won me over about this team since last December. This team is a TEAM, they’re there for each other, they put the work in, they’re confident without being cocky, they’re secure without being arrogant, and they take responsibility for their own actions. They don’t spend too much time whining about calls (and there were some wild, crazy missed calls in this series) or unfairness, they simply put their helmuts on, climb the skyscraper, and go to work.

Jalen Brunson, the Finals MVP, didn’t even get drafted in the first round. He was drafted in the second, and despite putting the work in as a member of the Mavericks, wasn’t offered a fair contract, wasn’t respected there, so he left and came to New York City. And, here’s what’s crazy in this age of NBA Basketball, he took a PAY CUT in order to bring his college team members in to join him. Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges, they played college ball together (and won) and Jalen took millions less so they could join him (see, James Harden, see?).

Brunson was told he was too short, too slow, not athletic enough, over and over. Didn’t complain, just put the work in. Every day.

His costar, Karl-Anthony Towns (KAT) was a number one pick at Minnesota who was oft criticized as being soft, and dumb… Kat’s own teammate, Jimmy Butler, went after him in practice hard, and called him out and told him he didn’t want it enough because he didn’t want to fight in practice. Now Kat has a ring, and Jimmy doesn’t.

Minnesota sent him to New York to make room for their preferred star, Anthony Edwards. He was seen as damaged goods, too. Both players.

And in this series, Jalen had to play against a team with a player described as the best on the planet, Wemby. Wemby is fourteen inches taller than Jalen.

Now, I like Wemby and the Spurs. I think, and have always thought, the Spurs organization is a class act. It’s a great team. It will be a force for years.

This year, they simply ran into an even greater team.

The Knicks, as an organization, made a few critical changes. The owner stopped sticking his nose into basketball business and hired a really good President. And, last year, they let go of the coach that got them into the semis (Tibbs) and brought in an open-minded one. Now, Tibbs was, and is, a great coach. But he doesn’t trust bench players, not at all. He runs a short rotation, which exhausts your starters.

Coach Brown believes in using everyone and letting the game flow. This is important. Because stars have off nights. Kat had one last night (he had two points!?). Or they get injured, or they don’t match up well with who they’re facing. He also tried different approaches, different lineups.

Coach Brown began using others… and if you watched Game 4, you saw how this paid off. Players you didn’t expect to shine did, once you trust them. OG saved that game.

I can go on and on about this, but the reason they won me over is that it’s clear that they love each other as teammates, they trust each other as teammates, and they’re open about it. If one can’t do it, another will step up. Last night, it was Jalen’s turn.

After Game 4, there was talk of OG Anunoby being the Finals MVP. Then, Jalen carried his team to the finish line in Game 5 and ended it last night with 45 points.

Jalen talked about putting the work in when no one is looking, when everyone’s crapping on your talent, your ability, your future. He didn’t argue. Just put the work in. That’s why this team won, because they’re all dialed in to the same channel.

Do the hard work, do it right, take responsibility for it, and that’s it.

They didn’t believe they were entitled to the Championship. They believed they had the ability to win it… together. If they did the hard work, if they did their best.

That’s what won me over. There’s a saying, “Fake it till you make it,” and there’s truth to the saying, but it’s often misunderstood. Too many think it means act like you’ve WON a championship. Act like you’ve DONE the great things.

No, it means doing the things that champions DO before they win. Put in the hours. Study film, help your teammates, do the hard work, serve the goal, not the ego.

I see this in everything. The real champions serve the work, not the ego. I wish I’d learned that earlier in life, but I learned it. Jalen learned it from his father, and it’s so wonderful to see them celebrate this win together.

They weren’t favored to win. They trailed every game of the Finals, and came from behind EACH time. They earned their win, they earned the love they get from the city, and they certainly won me over. These are the real guys, there for each other, committed to being the best they can be, together, as a team.

That’s New York City, too.

There’s a lesson in there. Multiple lessons.

And yeah, guess what? I’m a big Knicks fan.

Can’t wait for next year.