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Would Knicks opening a practice facility in Manhattan lure free agents to New York?

ByChris Gallagher|
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 28: New York Knicks owner James Dolan reacts as he watches an NBA basketball game against the Toronto Raptors from his front row seat on March 28, 2019 at Madison Square Garden Center in New York City. Raptors won 117-92. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty License agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice (Photo by Paul Bereswill/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 28: New York Knicks owner James Dolan reacts as he watches an NBA basketball game against the Toronto Raptors from his front row seat on March 28, 2019 at Madison Square Garden Center in New York City. Raptors won 117-92. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty License agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice (Photo by Paul Bereswill/Getty Images)

The New York Knicks need to develop a practice facility in Manhattan as soon as humanly possible. If you’re wondering why this sounds like an article on infrastructure, don’t worry, I’d never write something that boring, so just stay tuned.

New York needs to open a practice facility in Manhattan because one of the main drawbacks of free agents is that the Knicks’ practice facility is in Tarrytown, N.Y. For those from the area, Tarrytown is in Westchester, N.Y., which is pretty far from Madison Square Garden.

The New York Knicks need to develop a practice facility in Manhattan

When I was researching this exact topic, I was reminded of an SNY article where former Knicks center DeAndre Jordan (still weird that he was on the team for five minutes) said that Westchester is “a hike” and I agree. I can literally see Madison Square Garden from my window, and I know that if I hop in the car and try to drive to New York’s practice facility, it wouldn’t be a fun trip.

Stefan Bondy also said that Kevin Durant chose Brooklyn over the Knicks and cited the practice facility as one of the issues. KD has been clear since his move to the Nets that he enjoys living in NYC, and if you follow any Knicks players on social media, most of them live in Westchester.

I’m a New Yorker and I always have been. I really do think that if I wanted to go to my hometown team, I’d be upset that I’d basically have to live in Westchester because I would want to live in the city with my friends and family.

Now, maybe Reggie Miller is correct, and the reason that players do not want to play in New York is due to the media, but come on, more media means more exposure, which means more money.

Also, the Lakers have the same level of media and they can get stars. Their practice facility is a 20-minute drive from Crypto.com Arena.

Let’s look at Brooklyn since the Nets are a team in New York City. Their practice facility is 15 minutes (and almost a literal straight line) from the Barclays Center. MSG’s distance from the Knicks’ Tarrytown practice facility is an hour and 20-minute drive. That is aggressively far away.

For anyone who might be wondering if New York is closer to Brooklyn’s practice facility than its own facility… yeah, it is. It takes half the time to get to the Nets’ training center than it does to get TO THEIR OWN! Why, James Dolan, why?

I do not understand why the Knicks do not look to build a practice facility in the Hudson Yards area, as there’s a whole lot of space, and that would be a 15-minute walk from MSG.

With all the rumors of Jalen Brunson having an interest in playing for New York and Donovan Mitchell eyeing the Knicks, they should try to clear this issue up, as it is so pointless to have a practice facility so far from their home arena.

I do not understand the thought process here, but I do understand that players probably do not like this commute and if you put yourself in their shoes, it would get really annoying.

New York has to move its practice facility to the city, preferably close to MSG, like Hudson Yards. And they better do it fast before I have to write another article in which instead of spending too much time on StatMuse, I’m spending too much time on Google Maps. Fix this Knicks, and soon.