Why the NBA needs the Knicks

By Timothy Hammill Sports Central Columnist

On Monday, the people of New York celebrated the announcement of an NBA franchise playing in the hallowed halls of Madison Square Garden. No, the league didn't announce an expansion granting the Big Apple a team -- newly-named General Manager Isaiah Thomas was successful in putting together a team that resembles an NBA team.

The Knicks were on the receiving end of one of the most one-sided deals in recent history, sending two below-average point guards, Charlie Ward and Howard Eisley, and an injury waiting to happen in power forward Antonio McDyess for one of the league's most talented point guards, Stephon Marbury, and former superstar Penny Hardaway. The move not only makes the blue and orange an instant playoff contender, but, most importantly, it also brings back excitement to one of the league's crown jewel franchises.

From the mid- to late-1990s, the league experienced its golden age; huge television ratings, arenas filled to capacity throughout the league, and consistent media coverage. The league made major team sports a three-league market, giving Major League Baseball and the National Football League company at the top. The majority of this was as result of the game's greatest player, Michael Jordan. However, not all of the success was a result of 23's magic.

New York was clearly one of the most dominant teams of this era, making a run at the title, only to have championship dreams crushed by M.J.'s Bulls on a yearly basis. Jordan made his name on his mind-blowing performances against a formidable Knick squad in the "World's Most Famous Arena," not by dropping 40 each visit to Portland or Phoenix.

What is a Jordan montage without the footage of his Airness beating two defenders attempting to trap him on the baseline, sticking out his tongue, and elevating over all seven feet of the franchise's greatest player of all-time, Patrick Ewing, wearing the home white? Does that play stand the test of time in any other setting against any other team? A competitive team in the media capital of the world, in the midst of a heated rivalry with the league's king, is never a bad way to generate some buzz.

Jordan is gone, the buzz is gone, and the Knicks are as good as gone. Average spectators of the game were missing a hero to love, and a team of villains to hate. New Yorkers were left with nothing to talk about from the time their football teams were put to rest and the time New York Yankees' owner, George Steinbrenner, put his checkbook away.

The purple seats that surround the floor usually filled with the city's elite celebrities were either not filled at all or occasionally filled with overpaid B-list celebrities watching an overpaid B-list basketball team. The league's highest payroll was unable to clinch a playoff berth in the lowly Eastern Conference.

Meanwhile, across the bridge in New Jersey, the once laughable Nets have gone to consecutive NBA Finals. When the Yankees go to the World Series year after year, the other team in town, the Mets, do what they can to put together a team worthy of garnering some of the city's attention.

In comparison, what do the Knicks do to respond to the Nets success? They traded arguably their best and easily their most popular player, Latrell Sprewell, for Keith Van Horn. If Keith Van Horn is the two in your team's one-two punch, you better have a whirlwind of firepower in your number one.

That whirlwind of firepower goes by the name of Allan Houston. At least that's what Scott Layden, New York's former General Manager, thought. One of the league's best pure shooters, yes -- a franchise go-to-guy worthy of one the league's top-10 salaries? Not at all.

"Fire Layden!" replaced "Go New York, Go New York, Go!" as Gotham expressed its hatred for the man who single-handedly ruined the organization.

After years of inferiority, Knicks' owner James Dolan finally heard those chants. He fired Layden and replaced him with Isiah Thomas.

The same Isiah Thomas who was asked to step down as part-owner and Vice President of Basketball Operations with the Toronto Raptors, and was fired by Larry Bird for his failures as a coach with the one of the Eastern Conference's most talented teams, the Indiana Pacers. If you had to write a recipe for destroying a franchise, a healthy dose of Thomas would be listed somewhere near the top.

However, in just two weeks, the former Piston great has been able to give the city of New York a team worthy of shelling out the $83.50 for a ticket. Stephon Marbury is not only one of the league's elite, he is a guy the city cares about. On the nights where he puts up 30 and makes the highlight reel pass, they will pledge his allegiance, blowing the roof off of the Garden.

Then, the nights where nothing is falling, and he throws a couple of off-target passes into Spike Lee's seats, he is going to hear boos of deafening proportions. Regardless of how he plays, all of the Big Apple's eyes will be on him.

Marbury, along with Houston, is easily the best backcourt in the East, and maybe a distant second behind the Lakers' Gary Payton and Kobe Bryant as the best in the entire league. Van Horn and power forward Kurt Thomas are solid compliments to the Marbury/Houston show. Then there is Dikembe Mutombo at the center spot, who, although passed his prime and should never have a play designed for him to touch the ball, still provides a presence in the middle on defense and the glass that very few teams in the league have. Then there is Hardaway coming off the bench, with New Yorkers hoping he can show some signs of the former superstar.

The Knicks may have acquired enough of a lift to narrow the gap between them and their Atlantic Division foes, the Philadelphia 76ers, Boston Celtics, and defending champs from across the bridge, the Nets. The process of closing the gap should make for some added excitement the NBA needs in the East. The Sixers, Celts, and Nets were not factors during the blue and orange's most prominent years. The only team who stood in the way of a division title was former Knick head coach, Pat Riley's Miami Heat.

Although, New York/Miami matchups did not provide the prettiest basketball, it did provide moments of shear astonishment. With fist fights and close games each and every time the two met. However, with 1,300 miles separating the two cities and the countless former New Yorkers calling Miami home, the rivalry was missing the hatred between the two team's fans.

With the upgrade for the boys who play in the Garden, the NBA can finally market meaningful games between teams and cities that have no love for each other. Marbury and Houston coming in Boston for a late-season game of playoff implications with Paul Pierce raising his hands to get the Fleet Center to rise to their feet. You wouldn't tune in for that? Look what a Boston/New York feud did for Major League Baseball, some of the highest ratings it has ever seen.

How about Marbury and Allen Iverson going head to head in the most hostile of environments, Philadelphia? It would be much easier for the league to market this marquee matchup than a Sixers/Hornets conference semifinal.

What about LeBron James in a meaningful game in the garden? A competitive NYK squad in the league's loudest building for a matchup on the road against the Kings. Antoine Walker, Dirk Nowitzki, and Steve Nash making their annual trip to Gotham a meaningful game? Lakers vs. Knicks with some meaning!

Baseball is better when the Yankees are good, the NFL is more fun to watch when the Cowboys are good, Notre Dame for college football, and the Knicks in the NBA. They provide a stage unlike any other for stars to shine on and give the rest of the country an enemy to hate.

With this blockbuster deal, the Knicks and the NBA are one step closer to capturing the luster of the league's golden age.

Article courtesy of Sports Central.