THE EASTERN FINALS SHOULD BE IGNORED, WITH ALL OF US ROOTING FOR NEW YORK
The NBA is at the sensitive point where only one small market — Oklahoma City or Victor Land — can reach the league Finals, with the Knicks necessary a year after the Thunder played the Indiana Pacers
One team is in the Eastern Conference finals, the New York Knicks, sure to be eulogized and Jimmy Fallonized the next two weeks. They have every certifiable reason to beat their opponents and should advance to the Finals in five games. Until the other team shows up — which may or may not occur, though Cleveland leads the NBA in payroll and James Harden has been growing the same beard for 17 years — let’s stick with the Knickerbockers.
Commissioner Adam Silver and the Disney Company bosses never will say this. But the only way to rescue June from American apathy is if Madison Square Garden is a site and if Timothee Chalamet, the billionaire Jenner girl, Ben Stiller, Spike Lee and Tracy Morgan are shown often. The NBA desperately needs the biggest city to pad TV ratings, even if Victor Wembanyama arrives or the Thunder are trying to win back-to-back titles. The NFL can get away with smallish markets because players are marketing monsters and Super Bowls are in party havens.
With summer and the World Cup approaching, Oklahoma City and San Antonio — and northeast Ohio — aren’t places the nation readily acknowledges. Answer me: What is The Alamo? Is Skip Bayless the biggest clodhopper ever produced by Oklahoma, including the panhandle? Will LeBron James never return to Cleveland because fans insulted Bronny? Basketball aficionados will watch the Western Conference finals because Wembanyama soon will rule the kingdom, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has won the MVP award twice — even if Blake Griffin is angry at ESPN’s Shams Charania for reporting the news first Sunday.
“What are we doing, man? It’s Sunday, Shams. Go to brunch, nerd. Come on!” said Griffin, referring to Charania’s meek profile on Amazon Prime.
But to keep viewing games in the next round, we need panache and celebrities. Anyone who watches the Thunder and Spurs doesn’t see either losing to the Knicks. But New York can sell us with heat and love. Jalen Brunson — who flashes a vision of the city, though he grew up in the Chicago suburbs and won titles at Villanova on Philadelphia’s Main Line — brought self-effacing sounds when he walked out of a media room.
“One, I am not a star. Two, I want to win. I’m not self-centered,” he said.
That’s why the Knicks will strangle the Cavs. Their star is not a star, even if his photos appear constantly on TV and on billboards. Is it possible Brunson is overlooked in the local megasearch category, where Jaxson Dart receives more praise when he hasn’t achieved anything with the Giants? “I don’t think he gets enough credit for what he’s done for this team for, what, the last five years?” teammate Mitchell Robinson said. “S—, they don’t give him his credit.”
They have won seven straight games, outscoring the 76ers and Hawks by a league-record 185 points. Mike Brown is only concerned about having nine days off before the series begins Tuesday night. “I’ve been in both situations, playing while a team’s waiting and I have been waiting while a team’s playing,” the coach said. “You can say a lot theoretically. You can say they’re going to be tired, but you can also say they have a competitive edge because they’ve been going at it for seven games and we’ve been off.”
The Cavaliers have played successive seven-game series. Donovan Mitchell, who grew up in Westchester County, will have reasons to excel. He must prove he’s a superstar, not always clear at age 29 when he shoots 6 of 20 in a Game 6 loss to Detroit. He came back with 26 points and eight assists in Game 7, but he’s too inconsistent when he expects a new contract next year for … $350 million.
“Even last year, when we lost to Indiana, we had our goals set on getting to the Finals. We’re just one step closer,” Mitchell said. “But yeah, it’s been almost a decade of running into the same issue.”
“I’ve been saying all year we have a lot to prove. We still have more to prove,” coach Kenny Atkinson said.
The Knicks believe they will win a championship for the first time since 1973. Brunson would have much to say then. “We’re still writing our story,” he said.
All we await is Mike Breen in his home arena. And James Harden to struggle once again. The NBA cannot rest until the 47th media market — OKC is between Greensboro-High Point and Albuquerque — is rescued by No. 1.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host.