The New York Knicks fell short of the objective that the team has set since 1973, last time they got an NBA Championship, and Spike Lee, one of the most emblematic diehard fans in all sports, revealed that there is a vibe in the air on this season.
A heartbreaking loss in the 2024 Eastern Conference Semifinals made the team to look forward and continue to get coach Tim Thibodeau the pieces that his project need in order to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.
Why Spike Lee might have a point
The run of the 2023-2024 season just boosted the confidence on the team, and the front office made a shocking move by getting two of the best pieces from the Nets, team that is only 1.4 miles away from the iconic MSG.
On July 6th, 2024, the Knicks sent 5 future first round picks for the services of Mikal Bridges and Bojan Bogdanovic. The move was an open letter to everyone in the league and the message was clear, "New York wants to compete for everything on next season."
But the masterplan did not stopped there, because another "Blockbuster" arrived on October 3rd, with two of the fan favorite players of the Knicks roster at that time going to Minnesota, Julius Randle and Donte Divincenzo, in exchange for one of the best big mans all over the league, Karl-Anthony Towns.
Towns, born in New Jersey and rooted Dominican, represents perfectly the figure that New York Sports has been looking in players like Juan Soto, Francisco Lindor or Aaron Rodgers, a pure star in one of the best sport cities on the United States.
The fact that Spike Lee feels like the Knicks can bring it all this year ir an outcome of what New York City has been done in the last year, having felt short in diverse disciplines. 2024 might just be different with the Yankees, Mets and now Jets in the conversation to win it all.
The Celtics can be a good example
The now 18 times world champions passed through a same process, getting short in several times that the team showed a great display on regular season, but didn´t matched the expectations on the playoffs.
Now that the Knicks have been slow-cooking a winning project, it is time for the final details in order to get the "main course".
One of the problems is that, in order to get the "chip", the team (probably) must defeat the Celtics to achieve the finals and have a shot on winning them.
Spike Lee might have a really good point on his statement, but there is really a "vibe" on the Knicks that, at least, make the Knicks a top 3 contender on the East and a really dangerous opponent for every NBA team.
