5. The City
The 2016-17 New York Knicks may be the most New York team since the 1990s. It embodies the traits of New York City, and not those seen in movies or the media—the true traits that actual New Yorkers know.
High-profile a squad as it may be, the 2016-17 Knicks are made up of blue collar workers looking to make a living in New York.
Four players on the Knicks were born in New York City: Carmelo Anthony, Joakim Noah, Kyle O’Quinn, and Lance Thomas. Anthony and Thomas were born in Brooklyn, Noah played high school ball in both Manhattan and Brooklyn, and O’Quinn was born in Queens.
If nothing else connects these players, it can be the fact that two starters and two key reserves have New York roots.
More important than where the players were born is the mentality that they and their teammates play with. There’s an underlying sense of discontent and dissatisfaction with where the players’ careers currently are.
If that’s not a feeling that New Yorkers can relate to, then what is?
Next: The Will