Why I hate seeing Knicks succeed?

James Dolan, Jalen Brunson, Tom Thibodeau, Leon Rose, Spike Lee, Stephen A. Smith, Craig Carton, NBA and Knicks fans have made me hate the Knicks.

I have been asked on Twitter, a sports bar (Clubhouse Cafe at Cliffside Park, NJ) and at my workplace at FedEx about why I have been salty on the Knicks this postseason.

My readers asked me why I was not writing about the Knicks on this excellent blog.

It’s interesting that these questions are posed when Knicks fans should be enjoying what their team is doing in the postseason after being up 2-0 against the Indiana Pacers in their second-round series.

This inspired me to write a column on why that’s the case, being that I was a former Knicks fan.

I hate the Knicks mainly because of James Dolan, more than anything. Just because the team is doing well doesn’t mean all of his transgressions should be forgiven. It doesn’t change the past, and it shouldn’t get fans to ignore his nonsense.

I get it; fans don’t care about that since they only care about winning first. But there’s something to be said about decency, which Dolan will never have because he did not have to work on having one. This is a guy who was born on third base by inheriting his father’s Cablevision company and Madison Square Garden properties rather than grinding at a real job to get to where he is today. He wouldn’t understand what decency is.

These are the same Knicks fans who embraced Latrell Sprewell, who behaved like a punk in his entire Knicks tenure, but it was okay since he was winning games.

No way should Dolan’s transgressions ever be forgiven. He ran off great people such as Dave Checketts, Pat Riley, Jeff Van Gundy, Donnie Walsh, Larry Brown, Mike D’Antoni, Jeremy Lin and so many other great, hard-working employees in the Knicks organization because he either didn’t like them or he had a hard time working with them. He also enables Isiah Thomas to abuse Anucha Browne Sanders at the workplace with the Knicks. He also banned Charles Oakley from going to the games; never mind, the Knicks forward gave his heart and soul to the team.

Oh, and who can forget him banning fans at games because they have been critical of him?

Just because this team could win a championship and maybe form a dynasty doesn’t mean our perception of Dolan should change. The guy will always be a piece of shit (yeah I used profanity, but he deserved to be described that way). As long as he owns the Knicks, I have no interest in rooting for him or seeing him do well. He destroyed my love of this team as a kid growing up by running Riley out of town. It’s hard to get over that.

This goes beyond Dolan, though. It’s about everyone.

I can’t stand watching Jalen Brunson. This guy whines to the refs frequently; never mind, he has gotten many calls this year. Plus, he flops and plays dirty. No one is arguing that he is a superstar, though he is not better than Anthony Edwards, despite what stupid Knicks fans think. 

Then there’s Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau. There’s no argument that he is a great coach. My problem with him is that he comes off as a blowhard by whining to the refs almost every game. I hate it when he acts like a lunatic at games by screaming on the sidelines. He is so condescending when he talks like he invented the game of basketball in his presser.

Oh, and there’s this about him. I have suspected him of mailing it as a Timberwolves coach that got him fired mainly because he had the Knicks’ job in his back pocket, as in, he knew he would get the job the following season, so he had no interest in working hard for the Timberwolves.

Knicks president of basketball operations Leon Rose is a piece of work. Look, no one can deny the great job he did in building this team and finding guys who can play basketball together. But not talking to the media for two years is unacceptable. It’s part of his job description to talk to the media since he is supposed to be a conduit to the fans. He comes off as arrogant and aloof.

Attention-starved Spike Lee is just a buffoon. You can even call him a fraud fan. Yes, it’s great that he is at the Knicks games rooting for the team, but where was he when the team was terrible? You never heard much from him then. For him to come out of the woodwork and start his usual nonsense now, it’s hard to respect him. His antics are so annoying. He almost cost the Knicks their series against the Pacers in 1994 by trolling Reggie Miller, who had a coming-out party in that series. He is just an ass.

Stephen A. Smith is another nutcase. This guy just screams, screams and screams with no substance to his thoughts. He is also a guy who campaigns for stars to play for the Knicks, which is really not his job as a member of the media. He can claim he is an entertainer, but if he is covering the NBA on ESPN, he needs to do his job as a media insider.

Then, there’s Craig Carton. There will be a column on him sometime next week. I am fuming about this Knicks fan taking shots at the Timberwolves fanbase on his low-rated Fox Sports 1 morning show the other day. He said the Twin Cities is not a sports town, and that Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards is wasting his time and career there. He basically encouraged Edwards to get out of Minnesota. It’s just his way of being an asshole. He should be spending time hailing the Knicks rather than taking potshots at the Timberwolves and their fans.

I save my best for last. The Knicks fans make it really easy for me to hate them. They are insufferable and vile. They are worse now than they were 30 years ago, when the team was contending for championships. Their stupidity just keeps showing. This is a fanbase that seems to have lust for other players such as Victor Wembanyama, Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic and Edwards with the hope they play with Brunson and win plenty of more championships. You can’t even talk basketball with them. They are everything that’s wrong with New York sports fans in general.

It’s been hard to enjoy the Knicks’ success. I haven’t watched a minute about them since I hate them so much. I dread the day the Knicks win an NBA championship. I truly hope it’s not this year or any year. As a Minnesota Timberwolves fan, I can’t really enjoy the Wolves’ run since I am stuck in Knicks’ hell.

I can’t wait to get out of here on Friday when I go to Minneapolis to attend a Timberwolves’ watch party. I had plans on going to Game 3, but tickets are so expensive that I am not going to Target Center. Instead, I will settle for meeting people at a party.

Yeah, I am crazy to throw $375 (my airplane round-trip flight) away to attend a watch party.

But I rather do that than be miserable at home and see Knicks fans happy.

I earned the right to be happy, too.