The New York Knicks could very well be approaching a golden generation and some of its royalty — Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, Spike Lee, Ben Stiller, and Walt “Clyde” Frazier — know what the franchise is on the precipice of as they discussed the future at Fanatics Fest at the Jacob Javits Center in a panel hosted by MSG Network’s Kazeem Famuyide
The theme throughout the discussion was how special the current crop of Knicks players is, and their strong aspirations for an NBA title. While Hart and Brunson were quiet for a lot of the panel, the famous director and fan, Lee, was not shy, getting the crowd on their feet by saying, “I think the time is now, and f—k Boston,” referring to the rival defending NBA champion Celtics.
The following noise that filled the Javits Center theater was deafening.
Stiller, a movie star and lifelong Knicks fan, asserted that what made this team different was how they came together in a way not many fans anticipated, saying, “For many years we’ve been waiting for this special player, this person that’s going to come down from the mountaintop and save the Knicks…and then the way this has happened, really starting with Julius Randle…and then when [Brunson] came, not as this larger than life ordained figure but as this really good player…it’s so much more exciting than if we brought somebody in and said ‘we’re gonna build the team around you.’”
Stiller is right. The creation of this deep roster is completely out of the ordinary in the NBA. Even stranger, their biggest move this summer was to bring in a fourth Villanova Wildcat in Mikal Bridges.
It was an unprecedented move in NBA history, as Bridges joined three of his former national champion teammates on the Knicks. Frazier, a Basketball Hall of Famer who was a part of the team’s last NBA title-winning team in 1973, believes that Bridges is the piece that can put New York over the top.
“If the Knicks stay healthy, I think we can get back to our former level of grandeur,” the 79-year-old said.
What has defined the Knicks in the past year has been their championship-level effort. Despite suffering countless injuries last season, especially in the playoffs, they pushed through to the seventh game of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The man who personified that was Hart, who spoke about how he finds the ability to play a full 48 minutes per night like he did in the playoffs.
“A lot of times I feel like I [haven’t] got the energy, you go out into the Garden and you hear everybody yelling and cheering…that gives you life, that gives you energy,” he said.
Hart is hopeful that as this Knicks team improves (and hopefully stays healthy) he won’t be relied on to play entire games.
Lee ended the panel by displaying one of his collector’s items: a net cut down from a Madison Square Garden basket on May 8, 1970, the day the Knicks won their first championship. As he brought back that memory, Lee promptly apologized to the children in the audience for his language, and ended things by saying, “Let’s get another ring!”
What occurred at Fanatics Fest on Friday was rare. A panel of current Knicks players and people involved in the history of the franchise to a significant degree all getting behind the same message: this is the year.
In past years this could have been passed off as a gimmick to get fans behind the team, but there is a real sense, certainly among New Yorkers, that this Knicks team is special. Lee, Frazier, and Stiller certainly believe it. Brunson, Hart, and the rest of the team believe they can deliver. Even in August, it’s as good a time as ever to be a Knicks fan.
