New York Knicks: Can #KnicksTape make a comeback?

The Knicks get out to a 6-0 start at the beginning of the season, something they hadn’t done since 1993-1994 and haven’t done again since. The Knicks rattle of seven more wins with some losses sprinkled in here and there, all leading up to a December 6th game against LeBron James and the Miami Heat.

#Knickstape Is Born

Why is this regular-season game so important? Because the Knicks handled business and then Iman Shumpert proceeded to drop one of the hottest remixes of the 2010s the very next day, obviously. An obvious spin on the classic song “Clique” by Kanye West, Shump’s “Knicks Anthem” is considered to be the origin of the KnicksTape mantra, a phrase which is now forever synonymous with the last good season in New York Knicks basketball to date.

It makes sense that the phrase pretty much died once the Knicks began to suck and Shumpert was traded, but why should it have to die? Sure, it could be seen as a way of clinging to the past success of the team instead of looking towards the future, but it doesn’t have to be. Quite frankly, the phrase is just cool. Much cooler than many of the other team phrases around the league. What the hell is a Lake Show? I’m not sure, but it sounds lame.

Some Knicks, like Reggie Bullock, have said/used the expression in recent years, but it just hasn’t stuck in the same way it did back then. That has to change. It would simply be too easy for the organization to fully embrace it, just slap “KnicksTape” on a hashtag and keep it moving so we’re stuck with the likes of “#NewYorkForever” or the even more lame “#Knicks”.

I know, you might be thinking to yourself: “Holden, this seems like a very trivial thing to have such a strong opinion on,” and you’re absolutely correct. But here we are. It just feels like we need something bigger and more flashy, which is what the entire identity of that KnicksTape team was. I mean, even Mike Woodson is back! It makes too much sense not to get the band back together.

The 2020-21 Knicks are currently listed as the 4th youngest team in the NBA with an average age of 24.8 years, a complete turnaround from when they set a record for having the oldest average age of any team in NBA history in 2012-2013.

However, despite the overall adolescence of the current roster, the team is playing arguably the most solid and entertaining basketball since that 12-13 season. It most likely won’t be sustainable but as it stands right now, New York also has one of the top-ranked defenses in the entire league, building their identity on the less glorious side of the floor.

Coach Tom Thibodeau has almost everyone thriving. If the Knicks keep it up, they might be in contention for a spot in the play-in tournament to then try to get into the playoffs.  Julius Randle looks like a bonafide all-star, RJ Barrett finally seems to be coming into his own, Mitchell Robinson is now a full-time starter and Immanuel Quickley looks, uh, good. The on-court stuff is getting better, I’m just saying that improved basketball needs an improved hashtag.