New York Knicks brand ‘is of value,’ says Jalen Rose
In response to Kevin Durant’s “cool” comment about the New York Knicks, ESPN analyst Jalen Rose said that while the brand still has value, it has work to do.
The Brooklyn Nets’ Kevin Durant made an off-court headline, when, in an interview, he said the New York Knicks were “not cool” right now, in response to their struggles attracting top free agents. It caused enough of a stir for David Fizdale and Julius Randle to respond.
Of course, when Durant makes a comment, the NBA world listens. Among the reactions, former NBA player and ESPN analyst Jalen Rose disagreed with the two-time NBA Finals MVP.
On ESPN’s Jalen & Jacoby, the one-time New York Knick said the organization still has value, but there is necessary work ahead to restore it, starting on the basketball court:
"“The brand is of value. It just has to be productive out on the floor. The one thing that this generation of player has shown, they get paid more money than any decades of basketball, clearly. But now, all of a sudden, that branding does matter; marketing promotion does matter.So if all of the money is equal, players definitely want that. The problem is the team has not been good, and, also, you can’t necessarily bury the history of the Knicks, when you want to up the history of the Nets because they actually just moved to Brooklyn."
While Rose disagreed, his point stood for how change is necessary, starting with on-court play.
New York has just three winning seasons just 2000-01, with the most recent in the 2012-13 season, which also marked their last playoff appearance. In between, they have 12 seasons of at least 49 losses, including two 65-loss campaigns, tying the franchise-low for win-loss record; 2018-19 featured the second of the two disastrous years.
Plus, even with the continuously changing roster parts, the Knicks have not been able to establish anything. Former president of basketball operations Phil Jackson overturned the team a handful of times in his brief tenure, featuring the Tyson Chandler and Derrick Rose trades.
At the same time, as Rose noted, the Knicks have history. Durant did not necessarily “bury” it, but said today’s players did not grow up with this team, as their latest glory years happened in the 1990s, when these Patrick Ewing-led rosters made two NBA Finals.
An increasing number of NBA players were born in the late ’90s, though, and grew up in the 2000s, when the Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio Spurs and even the Nets, for a time, were the talk of basketball. They have only seen the Knicks, sans the 2011-13 stretch, outside of the playoffs.
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The New York Knicks have a path to take to re-establish their value, and, as Rose said, it starts with their on-court play; improving on 17 wins in a reasonable first step.