New York Knicks: The Key To Success Is Commitment
Play For The Team
Throughout the 2016-17 NBA regular season, talk emerged that the players on the New York Knicks were in it for themselves. Anyone can produce a sourced report, but it was the players themselves who made that bold and powerful claim.
No player’s statement was quite as chilling as that made by the future face of the franchise: Kristaps Porzingis. Per Ian Begley of ESPN New York:
Kristaps said NYK doesn't trust each other often enough: 'It’s kind of everybody for (themselves) a lot of times. Both ends of the floor.'
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) February 7, 2017
That’s a terrible example to set for the future face of the franchise.
Rather than playing for individual production or a new contract, the Knicks need to play for each other. There was a postseason-caliber crop of talent on the roster in 2016-17, but when the team’s character was tested, it often crumbled.
That much is proven by the fact that the Knicks have lost 10 games by three points or less, and 16 games by five points or less.
In 2017-18, the Knicks will need to sacrifice what’s good for the individual if a different approach is better for the team. It’s then, and only then, that anything else the Knicks attempt to do will truly gain traction.
Victory means far more than statistics. If New York is going to bring glory back to Madison Square Garden, then it must embrace that truth.