New York has an insatiable appetite for sports superstars, though they have snubbed the city recently.
James was greeted by provocative tabloid headlines
and some disappointed fans at the Garden, but he said: “It is good to
see the fans here. They’re back, and the Knicks fans love the game of
basketball once again.” More Photos »
James came to Madison Square Garden on Friday with his handpicked co-stars, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, and kicked sand in the Knicks’ faces. The 113-91 loss to Miami was a reality check for fans who had been buoyed by the Knicks’ eight-game winning streak and uplifted by a narrow loss to Boston on Wednesday.
It was also a sobering reminder that the Knicks are seasons away from becoming a championship-caliber N.B.A. team.
During the winning streak, there was heady talk that the Knicks did not need a superstar like Denver’s Carmelo Anthony. After consecutive losses at home, it became evident that the Knicks really do need him. On Saturday, the Knicks dropped their third straight, falling to the Cavaliers, 109-102, in overtime. An N.B.A. team that aspires to win a championship must have two star players on its roster. The Knicks have Amar’e Stoudemire, who, as sensationally as he has played in November and December, is not enough to carry the Knicks to glory.
James is that type of talent, but he wisely said that he was no longer in the franchise-saving business. If James had doubts that he made the right decision, they should have disappeared after he saw the New York City tabloids Friday morning. One depicted him as a bum, the other as a chicken.
Stoudemire, beware: you could be next if the Knicks’ ship sinks. In New York, we are forever looking for that larger-than-life figure, the star who can generate the hype, live up to the hype and see through the hype. James would have been perfect, but alas, he knew the Knicks were a no-win trap.
On Friday, faced with tabloid caricatures and self-righteous lectures by news media critics about choosing Miami, James roasted the Knicks with a triple-double: 10 assists, 11 rebounds and 32 points. As expected, he was lustily booed by the capacity crowd from the introductions; the jeers subsided as the Heat pulled away in the third quarter and the stands began to empty.
“The fans here are great,” he said. “We all know that fans are very passionate. They want their team to win — if you’re on their team. It is good to see the fans here. They’re back, and the Knicks fans love the game of basketball once again. I think it’s great for the N.B.A.”
The negative reaction to James’s decision reflects a lingering paternalism toward a star athlete who had leverage and used it.
We criticize the modern athlete for being narcissistic, the antiteam player. Yet when James says he does not want to be a savior, we call him a coward; when he says he wants to fit in, we accuse him of shrinking from a challenge. When James uses his leverage to make a shrewd business decision — and accepts a network’s offer to televise that decision — we call him manipulative. Yet nearly every arena the Heat visits is a sellout.
With his move to Miami, James established himself as more than just a basketball player, but a game changer. With N.B.A. owners prepared to lock out players, James should consider extending the free-agent model he created last summer and recruit a team of N.B.A. players to barnstorm around the world. Two teams, one headed by James, the other by Kobe Bryant, would take on the world’s best teams in a series of exhibition games. They would pack arenas.
But those are thoughts for another day.
Miami was the 20th opponent to score more than 100 points against the Knicks. They allow 107.2 points a game, the third-highest total in the league. No N.B.A. champion in this century has allowed 100 points a game for the season. Coach Mike D’Antoni’s Knicks may become the first, but don’t count on it.
Who cares about any of that now?
The Knicks are winning early and often. They have their fans where they want them: starved. For two years, the mantra at Madison Square Garden was, Wait for James. Now the mantra is simply, Wait.
“We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves,” D’Antoni said after Friday’s loss. “Fans need to understand also that we’re coming, we’ll be there. Just hang in there just a little bit, and I think we’ll have a team as we go forward they’ll be really proud of, and we’re going to compete. We’ve got to get where Boston is, where Miami is later on.”
We need new blood in New York. Cliff Lee and LeBron James passed. Lee will return to Philadelphia, and James is thriving in Miami. Stoudemire took the bait in New York and has been fantastic so far.
Although as D’Antoni said, it’s only December.