The New York Knicks have uncharted expectations and no one knows how to feel about it, especially Stephen A. Smith.
As the Knicks march toward making their first conference finals appearance since 2000, Draymond Green claimed this team is just a “fluke” and will set fans up for “misery.” Friday morning on First Take, Kendrick Perkins slammed Green for the “lazy ass take,” crediting the Knicks for building their team the right way.
Kendrick Perkins takes issue with Draymond Green calling the Knicks playoff run a fluke, saying it’s a “lazy ass take.” pic.twitter.com/UjpgD0suma
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 10, 2024
Stephen A. Smith stopped short of calling the current Knicks run a fluke, but he wasn’t about to let Perkins proclaim this isn’t the same old Knicks either. During the segment, Smith proceeded to blow a gasket after he did the unthinkable and evoked James Dolan on a day where the Knicks are just two wins away from the conference finals, six wins away from the NBA Finals, and ten wins away from their first title in more than 50 years.
Happy Friday, Stephen A. Smith just blew a gasket pic.twitter.com/GbGuMpZ9dH
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 10, 2024
“It’s easy for you to say dammit!” Smith ranted to Perkins. “Until they get to a point where they get over that hump, it’s not good enough! Because James Dolan is the owner, and that means that at any given moment, something can happen. That is our experience in New York City! You don’t get to sit up there and gloss over that when you were in Beaumont, Texas!”
What are we doing? Talking about James Dolan? TNT wants to pretend Reggie Miller is Michael Jordan and Reggie Miller wants to pretend he’s the boogeyman for Knicks fans. James Dolan is the boogeyman. He’s the person Knicks fans can’t stand to look at. And here we are, hours before Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Indiana Pacers and what are we talking about? We’re talking about James Dolan. Yuck.
“Y’all talking smack like y’all were here in the city suffering like us!” Smith ranted. “You weren’t! You weren’t there! And so Draymond speaking about a fluke, let me tell you something, we’re not sitting up here saying these Knicks are a fluke. We’re saying, ‘Oh my God, the path that you’re on, the trajectory, please don’t change, please, Dolan, don’t get in the way…’ That’s what we’re saying. You don’t get to sit up there and come at us and talk about what we ain’t supposed to be doing. We’ve been here suffering!”
Here’s why Knicks fans can feel confident in believing this is no fluke. For the first time in a long time, the Knicks have a legitimate superstar in Jalen Brunson. A player capable of carrying his team to a victory against anyone. Pair that with a head coach in Tom Thibodeau who will not allow the Knicks to be outworked, and it’s clear that this is no fluke.
On the other hand, here’s why Knicks fans should worry that this is a fluke. The team is dropping like flies. Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson, Bojan Bogdanović, OG Anunoby, and Jalen Brunson. This team can’t stay healthy. Pair that with a head coach in Tom Thibodeau who forgets he has a bench while running the team into the ground, and it might seem like we’re just watching a fluke. Hence Stephen A. Smith’s concern and angst as he hears his colleagues from Texas preach that this Knicks team is different.
