Dear Basketball: From Ewing to Brunson — A love Letter to the Game
Dear Basketball,
Thank you for always being there even when we were apart. Whether I was watching, coaching, or playing, the love we have never faded away like a Patrick Ewing or Dirk Nowitzki 18-footer. We both have changed and continue to mature and evolve like Jalen Brunson or Jason Tatum’s game. Sure, we needed a time-out like Chris Webber did. But even when we didn’t have “The Answer” like AI, or we had to speak “The Truth” like Paul Pierce.
The tough times made us adopt the “Mamba Mentality” that Kobe showed us night in and night out. Fundamentally, Tim Duncan and John Stockton reminded us that some things never go out of style. The Warriors dynasty showed us that we are bonded together by the “Bad Boy Pistons,” the “Showtime Lakers,” the “Championship Celtics,” and the “Team of the 90’s Chicago Bulls.” We don’t argue about who the best may be, whether it’s MJ, Lebron, Bird, or Magic. We are just happy that basketball can come through an event like the “Malice at the Palace” and bring a championship to the “Mistake by the Lake.” We went from tearing down backboards with Shaq, to watching Steph Curry launch a three-point offensive attack.
I’ve seen it all on the court including sitting in the stands at a national championship game for a school that I rooted for my whole life, and I never attended. But it’s basketball, one of my first loves, a love that must be defended.
How it started…
Do you remember the first thing you fell in love with? I do. I fell in love with basketball and professional wrestling. Although there is a lot of similarities between the two in 2024, lets focus on my love/hate relationship with the state of basketball. I can remember being a four-year-old living in a small apartment in Bridgeport, CT, just an hour train ride away from New York City watching the New York Knicks. My older sister is eight years older than me, and we would watch every game on the MSG channel. I grew up listening to Al Trautwig and being mesmerized by Walt Clyde Frazier’s suits as well as his dazzling vocabulary. Phrases that included “Spinning and Winning, Swishing and Dishing, Swiss Cheese Defense.” I would make my sister laugh as I stood up in front of the TV and did a terrible impersonation of the legendary play by play analyst, Marv Albert. (Still do)
But what I remember enjoying more than anything, was watching the effort and the skill of my favorite player night after night. Yes, back then NBA players played 82 games and gave maximum effort. My favorite player was the phenomenal Patrick Ewing. The big man that was the straw that stirred the drink. The offense went through him, the defense and effort took on his persona, and every teammate he played with understood he was the leader of the Knicks.
(Shaquille O’Neal was emotional as he went on record stating that Patrick Ewing is the most underrated player he has ever played against and is one of his favorite players.)
Patrick was so admired by New Yorkers because he symbolized the grit and toughness of the city. He was the 1st overall pick that led the Georgetown Hoyas to a national championship and appeared in three of four Final Four’s. That era in the Big-East is the foundation which the NCAA Tournament was built on. Hoya paranoia was a national phenomenon and catapulted the popularity of the college tournament from a regional success to a national annual event. He turned the Knicks ticket into the hottest ticket in New York for 20 years. If it wasn’t for Patrick Ewing, my love for basketball may never have happened.
1994 and 1995 happened…
Listening to Mike and The Mad Dog every afternoon in the backseat of my parent’s car was another sports lesson. Nothing ever matched the enthusiasm of the spring of 1994. My birthday is in late June, which means it usually coincides with the conclusion of the NBA finals. As The Knicks and Rangers dominated the playoffs in 1994, I was approaching my 7th birthday. Or as my grandfather would say, “You are going to turn Mickey Mantle this year.” It was the best birthday I have ever had. I remember having to stay out of the garage because my dad was assembling my birthday present. I heard a lot of four-letter words that I wasn’t allowed to say coming from the garage that day. But when I came home from school, played outside for two hours and at 5:30 PM my birthday present was revealed. I got my first 10-foot adjustable basketball hoop. My dad was tired, I was happier than I had ever been, and my mom was hoping it didn’t fall on my head because my father built it. (He was good athlete, just not very handy.)
From there on I would play basketball in my driveway and put up more ridiculous shots than fundamental shots. I faded away like Patrick, I had a hook shot like Kareem, and could only dribble with my right hand for the next 11 years. But when I wasn’t playing pick-up basketball or pretending to play for the Knicks, I was glued to the TV watching more basketball.
In 1994, The Knicks lost in seven games to the Houston Rockets. The two years Michael Jordan was on vacation from basketball, The Knicks had their window of winning a title. Pat Riley was the head coach and instilled a winning culture and philosophy into the team. We had our Batman in Patrick Ewing, we needed a Robin. We had a cast of characters that would fill their roles but could not take the workload off Patrick’s shoulders when needed. We had Charles Oakley as the enforcer, Anthony Mason, as the SF defender and rebounder, and John Starks as the gritty overachieving guard, and Bridgeport, CT’s own Charles Smith. (1993 was a defining year for Charles Smith as he went from a collegiate player of the year to a guy who could not make a layup against the Chicago Bulls to close out the series.) Not to mention an elder statesman in Derek Harper who in his prime was a heck of point guard, as a Knick he was unfortunately passed his prime.
The series ended with Pat Riley’s self-admitted biggest regret of his career, staying with John Starks in game seven instead of bringing in Rolando Blackman. In fact, there is a great article from Sports Illustrated in 2022 that describes this very event. Link - Inside John Starks's historically bad Game 7 of the 1994 NBA Finals - Sports Illustrated. In 1995, the season was a success for the Knickerbockers, but Reggie Miller and poor guard play would exploit the Achilles heel of the Knicks. Perimeter defense and consistent guard play was sparing from the Knicks during that time. The Pacer’s would come back and beat the Knicks with Reggie Miller famously taunting the crowd and scoring 8 points in 11.2 seconds. Spike Lee and the Knicks fans were stunned. Patrick Ewing missed a game winning finger roll which was soul crushing to Knicks nation. That was the last straw for Pat Riley as he left New York and faxed in his resignation in the offseason after failing to secure a long-term contract with the Knicks ownership. The organization had to quickly retool as their centerpiece was aging and it seemed their window was closing.
In 1995, I started getting more sophisticated and influenced by friends. I shifted my attention from the NBA exclusively and started to watch college basketball. I would watch every televised college basketball game, if it wasn’t interfering with the New York Knicks game. I loved Kerry Kittles, Allen Iverson, and Ray Allen. I had two favorite teams, The UConn Huskies and Georgetown Hoyas.
(Ironically, both of my cousins would each attend both Universities for their undergraduate degree, it must run in the family.) As UConn became more dominant, I started watching their tournament runs. Every March I was rooting for UConn with my dad, grandfather, and sometimes my sister, to beat Duke and win the Big-East.
The Thrill Was Gone
UConn won their first championship in 1999. As the NBA went through a lockout and played a shortened season, UConn helped me. I was sporting my new favorite jersey, an El-Amin UConn blue jersey that my dad picked up at the local sporting goods store. Unknowingly, I was about to enter a very difficult part of my life personally, which was also the beginning of my adolescence. As an already confusing time became more turbulent, the Knicks became the first 8-seed to go to the Finals. The Knicks were the childhood piece I held onto the most. At this time, I had The Yankees, UConn, and professional wrestling’s “Attitude Era” distracting me. But that 1999 playoff run by the Knicks made it feel like five years prior. Although Patrick Ewing was in his 15th season, he was still the locker-room leader, but his body was failing. Allan Houston’s game winning coast to coast drive versus the Miami Heat, LJ’s Four-Point Play versus the Pacer’s, and the four-game dominating performance against the Atlanta Hawks swept us off our feet and made us feel that anything was possible again.
Then the inevitable happened, my childhood hero went down with an injury he couldn’t battle through. Patrick Ewing was unable to play the remainder of the Playoffs as Latrell Sprewell and Alan Houston were called upon to lead the Knicks against the Spurs. The Spurs took care of us in five competitive games but based off their size and two Hall of Famers in David Robinson and Tim Duncan, it was a predictable ending. Ewing was traded in the offseason, and I didn’t care to watch the Knicks again for quite some time. I was bitter and hurt. I asked myself, Did the Celtics trade Larry Bird? Did the Lakers trade Magic Johnson? I felt betrayed as my developing brain couldn’t comprehend trading away a franchise leader after 15 years. It was the first time I saw the game I loved as a business. I still followed the NBA until 2007, but the passion wasn’t there anymore. The relationship had changed. We were both growing more cynical and going our separate ways.
As I entered high school, UConn became more of a focal point as college sports were becoming more marketable and peers were starting to think about where they were going after graduation. It’s then I began watching the NFL and NBA draft more intently and following these players collegiate and professional careers. My relationship with sports had changed. I played pickup games and became the manager of my school’s basketball team as a senior in high school. I learned the how’s and the why’s from the coaching staff who have become lifelong friends. I started coaching youth and high school basketball for the next seven years post high school. It made me a better player and brought me the joy that I had lost watching the NBA. The league was becoming increasingly more offensively minded and like many other sports, had changed the rules to appeal to the casual fan.
But the underlying issue was simple, The New York Knicks were continuously making bad decisions as an organization from 2002 – 2020. It was a bad 20 year run for the Knicks. Sure, we had Carmelo and Amare for brief glimpses. Yes, “Linsanity” captivated our fanbase for 6 weeks, but we always knew that it wasn’t the same early to mid-90’s feeling. We missed what April and May competitive basketball felt like. We missed the world’s most famous arena rocking in the spring. The buzz that NYC has when the New York Knicks are good is unmatched, and it had been two decades of mediocrity and head scratching decisions.
Time Is A Circle
But everything changed (including the world) in 2020 when former super-agent Leon Rose became the president of the New York Knicks. He changed the culture, coaching staff, and brought back former players. He signed players that made a difference and fit the mold of our head coach, Tom Thibodeau, who served as an assistant under the 90’s Knicks teams. The biggest addition was an undersized guard from Villanova, named Jalen Brunson. Once the Knicks signed him, they made it clear they were looking for smart and tough players that wanted to play on both sides of the floor. The Knicks have added two other Villanova Wildcats because they are smart and well coached from their college experience to their professional career. For the last 15 years we have seen super teams and offensive only players dominate the NBA. The tides have shifted and building your team through the draft and accumulating assets, and making key acquisitions is the best formula for growing a successful organization.
(Oklahoma, Dallas, Indiana, Orlando, New York)
In 2024, I have seen UConn win back-to-back championships laying basketball the right way. With an incredible coach and culture that forces you to work hard, play smart, and value basketball. Watching the New York Knicks the last three years, we have adapted a college style of playing. We grind out possessions and make the extra pass again. We have a team that likes each other, and a coach that holds players accountable. The organization doesn’t throw away draft assets and takes on terrible contracts. It looks like basketball again.
Getting Honest and Grateful
Truth be told, I am biased. I fully admit that. I think the late 80’s through the mid 2000’s was the greatest era of basketball. However, things change and most importantly the game had to evolve. I will not go into the history of how and why the NBA needed to change after the 2004 season. I will just refer to that as a significant turning point to make the NBA more marketable and continue to grow internationally. (Which isn’t a bad thing) 20 years later, the game is internationally stronger than ever and 4 of the top 5 players in the league were not born In the United States. Basketball has never been bigger on this planet.
The following people deserve recognition for keeping basketball relevant and in my life. Bill Simmons and Ryen Russillo. Leon Rose, Coach Hurley, and Coach Calhoun. Coach Pat Riley, Coach Jeff Van Gundy, and Coach Tom Thibodeau. And a special thank you to Jalen Brunson for continuing what Patrick Ewing started for me back in 1992. Thank you for reminding me about how special your first love can be.
