Who are the New York Knicks’ biggest X-factors?

The New York Knicks have one of the deepest rosters in the league, but some players have a bigger factor to the team than others, just like any sports team.

Every team has at least one X-Factor player, some have two, and if you’re the Knicks, your entire bench can be the X-Factor at times.

X-Factor players do not mean the best player on a team. My definition is a player who brings energy and excitement while shifting the momentum in his team’s favor when he is on the court.

The ultimate X-Factor that is relevant to us Knick fans is none other than JR Smith with literally any team he’s played for.  Never the team’s best player, but he sifted momentum with his exciting plays and was the reason behind many wins.

When he got the recognition he deserved, the best player on Smith’s teams was usually Carmelo Anthony with both the Denver Nuggets and later the Knicks, followed by his 4 years in Cleveland next to LeBron James.

Smith was arguably a top-three player on that Knicks team, which can happen with an X-Factor, or they could pay as little as 10 minutes per night and just bring fire and desire as Clyde Frazier might say.

The Knicks have multiple guys who could be the team’s X-Factor.  They really have a few guys, which was the inspiration for this list, though it was one guy, especially who is.

I wanted to make the top three X-Factors on the Knicks, and the third one gave me some trouble.  So I wanted to give a quick honorable mention to the other three guys I considered.

Obi Toppin was considered, but his minutes are too limited, even to the point Marc Berman commented on this, praising Toppin’s talent, and Berman praising the Knicks is a miracle.

RJ Barrett, I also considered, but that might just be my addiction to talking about him, also he is the second option on the team and feels like he is more just a critical piece.

Lastly, I almost put Alec Burks on the list, but he lost out to someone more deserving for his change to the team.  Anyway, here are the top three X-Factors on the Knicks.