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New York City, the Knicks, and the Return of an Identity
After years trying to be something else, the Knicks have finally embraced their city and become what they adore: tough and gritty
Perception is not always reality. As a native New Yorker living in Detroit, the perception of New York from Detroiters has always amused me. I often find that people who have never lived in New York see movies and TV shows that take place in Manhattan and assume that all five boroughs operate the same. Anyone that has lived in Brooklyn, Queens, or any of the other boroughs can attest to this. For all the glitz of Manhattan, the rest of New York City has a grittiness and toughness about it.
It is this dichotomy of glitz versus grit that makes the embracing of the current iteration of the New York Knicks so interesting. And also makes the relative dismissing of the Brooklyn Nets interesting as well. For as much as the narratives define New York as the marketing destination with the term big market in giant air quotes, it is toughness and hard play that the fans here respect. This was the case during the team’s championship runs in the ’70s, it was the case during the Pat Riley and Van Gundy years in the ’90s, and it is the case today under Tom Thibodeau.
